Google Play Drops Commissions To 15% from 30%, Following Apple's Move Last Year

Google will lower its Play commissions globally for developers that sell in-app digital goods and services on its marquee store, the company said, following a similar move by rival Apple late last year. From a report: The Android-maker said on Tuesday that starting July 1, it is reducing the service fee for Google Play to 15% -- down from 30% -- for the first $1 million of revenue developers earn using Play billing system each year. The company will levy a 30% cut on every dollar developers generate through Google Play beyond the first $1 million in a year, it said. Citing its own estimates, Google said 99% of developers that sell goods and services with Play will see a 50% reduction in fees, and that 97% of apps globally do not sell digital goods or pay any service fee. Google's new approach is slightly different from Apple, which last year said it would collect 15% rather than 30% of App Store sales from companies that generate no more than $1 million in revenue through the company's platform. That drop doesn't apply to iOS apps if a developer's revenue on Apple platform exceeds $1 million. "We've heard from our partners making $2 million, $5 million and even $10 million a year that their services are still on a path to self-sustaining orbit," wrote Sameer Samat, VP of Android and Google Play, in a blog post.

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