Kakao, Google In-App Payment Causes 70% Drop in New Users of 'Emoticon Plus'

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Google, which had enforced in-app payments only for game applications since June, has expanded this policy to all apps, resulting in a sharp decline to about one-third in new users of KakaoTalk's 'Emoticon Plus.'

On the 4th, during the Q2 earnings conference call, Namgoong Hoon, CEO of Kakao, explained, "Since June, Google has been implementing in-app payments, which were previously mandatory only for game apps, to digital apps such as Melon and KakaoPage as well."

CEO Namgoong said, "(Due to in-app payments) from the user's perspective, the price hurdle increases, so negative aspects for users are inevitable," adding, "The number of new users for Emoticon Plus has dropped to about one-third."

He also stated, "The impact of (in-app payments) is still in the early stages and needs to be observed," but explained, "We are planning promotions to minimize the impact of in-app payments in the second half of the year."

Previously, Kakao opposed Google's in-app payment policy and confronted Google. After Kakao posted an outlink notice within the KakaoTalk app, Google stopped the latest update of the KakaoTalk app on its Google Play store starting June 30. This was because Google refused to review the latest version, citing violation of Google's in-app payment policy, which has been enforced since the first half of this year.

In response, Kakao countered by providing the app installation file (APK) through the portal website 'Daum' search and the domestic app market 'One Store,' but due to user inconvenience and other issues, Kakao eventually accepted Google's policy by removing the outlink that induced web payments instead of in-app payments from the KakaoTalk app.