Google and Apple, as you might already know, run a duopoly with their Play Store and iOS App Store, respectively. The two industry giants have been facing criticisms and anti-trust lawsuits for taking advantage of their dominant positions and forcing companies and developers to use their proprietary billing methods. However, now Google wants to end this practice and will soon allow apps to offer their own billing system to customers, starting with Spotify. Here are the details.
Google has introduced User Choice Billing as a pilot program to allow developers and app companies to offer their own billing systems to customers in addition to the Google Play one. This will primarily give users an option to choose the billing system they want to use while making in-app purchases.
Spotify’s Freemium Business Officer, Alex Norström, said in a statement, “We’re excited to be partnering with Google to explore this approach to payment choice and opportunities for developers, users, and the entire internet ecosystem. We hope the work we’ll do together blazes a path that will benefit the rest of the industry.“
If you have been following the tech industry in recent times, you might know about the criticisms and antitrust lawsuits that Google and Apple faced for forcing developers and companies to use their proprietary billing system and charge a commission fee for publishing their apps and services on the App Store or the Play Store.
