[Reporter’s Notebook] Google Korea’s 20th Anniversary Ends in Self-Congratulation

Google Korea held the 'Google for Korea 2024' event at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul, to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
[Photo by Google Korea]

"Economic value created in Korea over the past 20 years: 131 trillion won, 552,000 jobs." This is the figure revealed by Google Korea on the 30th to mark the 20th anniversary of its corporate establishment. To celebrate the 20th anniversary, Google Korea held the ‘Google for Korea 2024’ event at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, Seoul.

Google emphasized its remarkable achievements in Korea. Citing an analysis by the global consulting firm Access Partnership, it stated that its products and services generated an economic value of 37 trillion won in just the past year. This includes advertising effects through Google Ads and revenue of developers distributing applications (apps) on Google Play. Last year, South Korea’s nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was about 2,400 trillion won. By the numbers, the Google Korea corporation alone accounted for 1.5% of the country’s GDP last year.

So how much revenue has Google earned in Korea? The fact that the company created such significant economic value also means domestic users paid that amount in return. However, Google has never properly disclosed this over the past 20 years. Last year, Google Korea reported sales of 365.3 billion won. But this figure has a large gap from actual revenue. This is because major income sources such as app market commissions, YouTube advertising revenue, and YouTube subscription fees are recorded as sales of the Asia-Pacific corporation based in Singapore. As a result, tax avoidance controversies recur every year.

The skewed performance evaluation does not end there. In a report detailing the achievements of the past 20 years, Google Korea stated that it "supported Samsung in exporting mobile devices worldwide through the Android ecosystem." It also emphasized that "YouTube played a pivotal role in helping K-pop stars and creators captivate the world" and "Google Play supported app developers’ global expansion."

While not entirely false, this is a one-sided evaluation. Google partnered with Samsung to counter Apple, which dominates the mobile ecosystem with the iPhone and Apple Store. On YouTube, it allows illegal content summarizing Korean movies and dramas to remain, sharing profits from it. It forces app developers to use its own payment system and takes 30% of the payment amount.

It is true that Google has had a significant impact on the domestic digital environment and IT industry ecosystem, but the shadows are equally deep. Controversies over corporate tax, forced in-app payments, bundling, and network usage fees continue to repeat. The issues of fake news and harmful content on YouTube are also serious. However, there was not even a mention of these at the 20th anniversary event. Regarding the next 20 years, they only said they would "support Korea’s digital innovation and grow together," without any discussion on how they will fulfill their responsibilities as a giant platform. The 20th anniversary event, boasting hollow numbers and one-sided communication, was nothing more than a faded celebration.