Google will update Play Store guidelines, crack down on companies bypassing 30% fee

US-based tech giant Google will soon reportedly get even more strict with developers regarding the in-app purchases bit. The company is set to bring changes to its Play Store guidelines and make it pretty much impossible for developers to have a workaround to the 30 percent cut rule.

If you’re unaware of what that is, Google takes a 30 percent cut for every purchase you make in an app, as its cut for hosting the app on the Play Store. A similar policy has been put in use by Apple on its own App Store. This has upset developers in the past.

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In the new changes, Google is expected to crack down on developers using workarounds to the 30 percent cut by offering users to pay with their credit cards and more, as per a report by XDA. The current Play Store guidelines say this – 1) Developers offering products within a game download on Google Play or providing access to game content must use Google Play In-app Billing as the method of payment. 2) Developers offering products within another category of app downloaded on Google Play must use Google Play In-app Billing as the method of payment, except for the following cases: a) payment is solely for physical products, and b) Payment is for digital content that may be consumed outside of the app itself.

However, despite these policies in place, the company has been lenient with some top-end companies by turning a blind eye when these policies were violated. Now, that will no longer be the case and developers will have a relatively short grace period to amend these payment elements before Google starts taking apps off the shelves.

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The new development will further escalate what could be called a rather complicated battle between developers and Google as well as Apple. We recently saw popular battle royale title Fortnite asking its customers to purchase content directly from the Epic Games website to bypass the 30 percent cut. Google and Apple retaliated by taking down Fortnite from their app stores. Subsequently, rumor has it that brands like Spotify, Epic Games, Tile, and others are forming a coalition to promote App Fairness, the aim of the group being to create a level playing field for app businesses”.

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