by Dan Moren
Google drops its app store commission to 15 percent on the first $1 million
Google VP of Product Management, Sameer Samat:
Starting on July 1, 2021 we are reducing the service fee Google Play receives when a developer sells digital goods or services to 15% for the first $1M (USD) of revenue every developer earns each year.
Simpler, as many have pointed out, than Apple’s Small Business Program, which both requires developers to take action to qualify for the lower rate and also raises the rate back to 30 percent if developers exceed $1 million in revenue in a year.
Apple’s program is good—and, recent reports suggest, has had only a minor impact on Apple’s App Store revenue—but Google has definitely one-upped it here. Granted, most analysis suggests the App Store has a larger number of paid apps than the Google Play Store, and brings in more in revenue, so it’s certainly to Google’s advantage to attempt to make its terms more attractive than Apple’s.
But if Apple wants to maintain its image as a developer-friendly place to do business, it would be well within its interests to match the terms of Google’s plan—if not beat them.