[Google, be evil] "If Caught, Death" Why Are App Developers Watching Google Carefully?

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] Where has Google's early motto "Don't Be Evil" gone? The controversy over Google's abuse of power is not new.

According to the National Assembly on the 15th, in recent years, there have been ongoing controversies in the domestic gaming industry that Google, which virtually dominates the app market, imposes implicit sanctions on developers by restricting first-page (featured) exposure if new games are simultaneously launched on Google Play and domestic app markets. The recent enforcement of the '30% app commission fee' has brought this issue to the National Assembly audit, but it is said that Google's invisible unfair practices are already widespread in the market.

One of the most representative practices is inducing exclusive releases by supporting marketing for a few large game companies or restricting featured exposure, thereby checking competing platforms. It is also frequently reported that Google pressures game advertisements to display only the Google logo and brand or forces downloads from advertising specialized applications to connect only to Google Play. Due to unclear criteria for Google Featured exposure, game companies have no choice but to yield during negotiations, according to insiders.

Especially for small and medium-sized game companies, whether or not they are featured determines success or failure, so they tend to keep quiet and avoid mentioning related unfair practices. Hong Jung-min, a member of the Democratic Party who demanded active government response at the National Assembly audit, said, "Developers fear revealing their identities," and "They worry about being excluded from Google Play or suffering disadvantages if they publicly criticize or request negotiations with Google." It is explained that app developers have no choice but to be cautious in front of Google, which holds a 70% market share in the domestic market.

Responding is not easy either. Kim Jae-hwan, Policy Director of the Internet Enterprise Association, said, "There must be actual reports or complaints for the Fair Trade Act to be applied, but since no official reports have been made, it is difficult to resolve." According to the Fair Trade Commission, the number of reports regarding exclusionary acts against competing businesses was zero last year.

The controversy when Kakao Taxi app was removed from Google Play on the day of the Kakao Game Shop launch in 2015-2016, and when Kakao's first distributed game One for Kakao was not searchable on Google Play for four days after release, is also not unrelated to the recent situation.

Experts raise their voices that the abuse of dominance by foreign app markets is leading to the destruction of the domestic content ecosystem. There is growing concern that it could turn into a content subcontracting base or a digital colony. There are also criticisms that app market users' choices are being restricted.

Meanwhile, 8 out of 10 citizens view negatively Google's decision to enforce a 30% commission fee on all apps and content as the 'app market giant.' Earlier, a joint online survey conducted by Jeon Jae-su of the Democratic Party and the Consumer Rights Forum showed that 84% of respondents thought Google's expansion of in-app payments was 'excessive.'

Starting next year, Google will mandate the use of its own payment method (in-app payment) for app developers selling content and items on Google Play, and will take a 30% commission in the process. Unlike Apple's App Store, Google has expanded the commission policy, which was previously applied only to games, to all content and apps.

90.5% of respondents predicted that Google's move would lead to price increases for consumers in the future.