Increases for All Subscriptions, Including Netflix and Spotify, are on the Way

of the European Union DMA (Digital Markets Act) With the regulation, it became mandatory for technology giants, called gatekeepers, to allow third-party payment methods. Technology giants also say they will comply with the DMA, but when it comes to implementation, they are going downhill. Google is also preparing to introduce new fees for developers.

With the statement it made today, Google announced the changes that will be implemented in the external offers program. two new payments announced. With the external offers program, Play Store developers will be able to direct users in the European Economic Area to third-party payment systems and will also allow them to advertise these payment methods. On the other hand, this will come at a cost for developers.

The “subscribe” feature of applications such as Spotify and Netflix will either be removed or their subscription fees will increase.

Let us remind you for those who don’t know; Apple receives a certain commission for subscription fees from all app developers in the App Store. For this reason, when you try to subscribe to a service via the iPhone application, you see different prices when you try to subscribe via a different web page. For example, YouTube Premium is available on the iPhone app. 75,99 TL Although on the website 57,99 TL. The difference comes from Apple’s commission.

Instead of increasing subscription prices, developers can remove the subscription feature from the mobile application. For example, when you open the iPhone application of services such as Spotify and Netflix There is no subscription feature, you are greeted with a warning that the website must be visited to subscribe. We may start to see similar warnings on Android phones soon.

With this change, Google will follow a similar path as Apple

At this stage, Google seems to have chosen to follow the same path as Apple. In the statement made by the company, “Google Play‘s service fee has never been a simple transaction fee—it reflects the value provided by Android and Play, which users and developers continue to trust, and our ongoing investment and development of Android and Play.” he said.

From now on, Google will receive payments in two different items within the scope of the program. The first of these will be the initial purchase fee and will be applied at a rate of 10% for in-app purchases and 5% for the first two years for subscriptions. Like this Users coming from Play Store Google will continue to make money from its payments. The ongoing service fee will be 17% for in-app purchases and 7% for subscriptions.

There will be an option to enter the new payment method, but there is no option to exit this method. Pricing It will affect not only games but also services. Additionally, a developer will not have to choose the same payment methods in every application. Developers will register as businesses in this program. This may happen between different platforms, for example the Play Store or the online store. price differences It seems like it could be the reason.