[Exclusive] Kakao Maintains 'Web Payment' Outlink... Defies Google's In-App Payment Enforcement?

Emoticon Plus Payment Window Retains 'Web Payment' Outlink
Defies Google's De Facto "App Deletion" Threat
'National App' KakaoTalk Faces Possible Play Store Removal

Kakao is providing an 'web payment' option that allows users to pay for Emoticon Plus at the original price, with an outbound link included. Clicking the red square shown will take you to the 'web payment' page.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Kakao is defying Google's policy to enforce in-app payments by maintaining a ‘web payment’ outlink that allows some content to be purchased at the original price. This bold move comes in response to Google's threat to remove apps that encourage web payments from the Google Play Store.

◆ "Delete us if you want" = According to industry sources on the 7th, following Google's enforcement of mandatory in-app payments, Kakao raised the price of KakaoTalk Emoticon Plus from the original 4,900 KRW per month to 5,700 KRW per month. However, last month, Kakao announced that users can subscribe on the web for 3,900 KRW per month and placed an outlink to web payment on the KakaoTalk payment window. Emoticon Plus is a subscription service that allows unlimited use of emoticons for a fixed monthly fee. Even a week after Google's in-app payment enforcement began, this outlink remains active.

Google has stated in its Play Store terms that apps providing ‘outlinks’ leading to web payments will be removed. It prohibits even expressions that guide or encourage web payments. If Google strictly enforces this policy, KakaoTalk, which maintains the web payment outlink, could be expelled from the Google Play Store.

A Kakao representative explained, "We judged it necessary to inform users of a way to purchase at the original price at least before June, so we added the web payment link and updated the app at the end of May." Regarding the possibility of violating Google's policy, the representative said, "We are aware of Google's app removal policy, but we have not yet received any official contact from Google."

Kakao's main content platforms, Kakao Webtoon and Kakao Page, also raised cash prices following Google's in-app payment policy but have not directly encouraged web payments like Emoticon Plus. Kakao Page only informs users through notices that web payments are cheaper than in-app payments and does not place outlinks on the payment window like Emoticon Plus. Therefore, industry observers speculate that Kakao is testing the limits of Google's outlink allowance by utilizing Emoticon Plus, which accounts for a relatively small portion of sales.

◆ Will Google delete the ‘national app’ KakaoTalk? = There is also an opinion that domestic and international ‘anti-Google sentiment’ played a significant role in Kakao's decision. In South Korea, domestic publishers and authors previously filed civil lawsuits claiming Google's enforcement of in-app payments was unfair. Consumer groups such as the Consumer Sovereignty Citizens' Association also filed complaints with authorities, arguing that Google's actions disregard the legislative intent of the Google Abuse Prevention Act (an amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act) and violate enforcement decrees.

Internationally, Match Group filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google and succeeded in exempting about ten apps it operates, including Tinder, Hinge, and OkCupid, from Google's in-app payment regulations. Spotify, Epic Games, 36 U.S. states along with Washington D.C., and the Netherlands Consumer Competition Claims Foundation are also engaged in lawsuits against Apple and Google over mandatory in-app payments.

It is also analyzed that the Korea Communications Commission's inspection of ‘mandatory in-app payments,’ which began last month, influenced Kakao's decision to maintain the outlink. Since no specific damage cases have been reported yet, if Google takes action against KakaoTalk, it could become a representative case of in-app payment damage. An industry insider said, "Although Google's stance on in-app payments is tough, it would be a significant burden for Google to delete KakaoTalk, the ‘national app’ used by virtually the entire population, from its app market."