Google to Earn an Additional 410 Billion Won This Year if In-App Payment Mandate is Enforced

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] An analysis has revealed that Google's enforcement of in-app payments could generate additional annual commission revenue of up to 410 billion KRW.

On the 25th, according to a report titled "Survey Results on Corporate Status and Response Measures Following Changes in Google's Commission Policy" by the Korea Mobile Industry Association, calculated by the office of Kim Young-sik, a member of the People Power Party, the commission paid by non-game content developers to Google due to the enforcement of the in-app payment policy is estimated to reach a maximum of 833.1 billion KRW this year. If various payment methods were allowed as before, the commission would be 419.3 billion KRW.

The difference in commission arising from the payment policy change amounts to 413.8 billion KRW, which goes entirely to Google. Notably, Google does not include app market sales revenue in the domestic market sales, thus avoiding related taxes. As a result, Google can secure nearly double the substantial commission revenue simply by enforcing the in-app payment policy without additional effort.

Representative Kim stated, "Google's enforcement of the in-app payment system, which acts as a high toll of 30%, is no different from the modern-day Bongyi Kim Seondal," adding, "This is an abuse of monopoly power by Google, which accounts for over 75% of the domestic app market, and the burden will be passed directly to domestic consumers and content providers."

In fact, due to Google's recent enforcement of the in-app payment policy, domestic OTT services, music platforms, and webtoon content providers are either raising their usage fees or considering doing so.

Representative Kim emphasized, "It is undesirable for domestic content providers to use Google's mandatory in-app payment as an opportunity to increase fees and pass the commission burden directly to consumers," and added, "Since the fee increases were triggered by Google's enforcement of in-app payments, it is necessary to immediately withdraw the mandatory in-app payment policy and allow free payment methods as before."