Google announces crackdown on in-app billing, aimed at Netflix and Spotify

Article note: Look at that, the abuses of walled gardens civic-minded technologists have been warning about rolling out across the oligopoly. The rent-seeking and censorship aimed at the public at large wasn't something that got acted on, but as soon as it started threatening monied commercial entities, it's suddenly a shitfight with (Apple, Google) vs. (essentially everyone else).

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With a lot of focus lately on how smartphone app developers are treated on Apple's and Google's app stores, Google has decided right now is a great time to announce more stringent app store billing rules. A new post from the official Android Developer Blog promises a crackdown on in-app billing that sounds like it's targeted at big streaming services like Netflix and Spotify.

Google's post really beats around the bush trying to sugar-coat this announcement, but it starts off by saying, "We’ve always required developers who distribute their apps on Play to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods, and pay a service fee from a percentage of the purchase." This rule has not been enforced, though, and a lot of big developers have just ignored Google's billing requirements. Today, Netflix and Spotify don't use Google's in-app billing and instead kick new accounts out to a Web browser, where the companies can use PayPal or direct credit card processing to dodge Google's 30-percent fees.

"We have clarified the language in our Payments Policy to be more explicit that all developers selling digital goods in their apps are required to use Google Play’s billing system," Google continues. "For those who already have an app on Google Play that requires technical work to integrate our billing system, we do not want to unduly disrupt their roadmaps and are giving a year (until September 30, 2021) to complete any needed updates."