> Google’s attorney didn’t contest any of this... pointing out, without saying explicitly, that an app at the scale of Netflix can afford to bypass the store and rely on a browser signup<p>ie., Google's attorney confirms the app-store model is a predatory racket
But I mean, why shouldn't a huge company like Netflix be offered more favorable terms due to the scale and business opportunity they offer? Similarly, Stripe offers lower transaction fees the more transactions you do.
Of course Google offers sweetheart deals for big accounts, it would be odd if they didn't. Google doesn't want to explicit about cutting into their 30% take, because everyone would want an exemption, so they offer remittances in other ways, giving them more discretion as to when the money spigot is on or off.
Isn't the real message here that payment, app-delivery, and app validation should all be available unbundled? Sure, it's a convenience for them all to be handled by Play, but what are we really asking our lawmakers to do?
I don't have any subscriptions that go through Google Play, but I hugely appreciate how easy they make it to cancel subscriptions and handle trial subscriptions correctly. I'm able to sign-up, immediately cancel, but still use the service for the duration of the trial with no risk of it auto-renewing on me.
I worked for Google Play at this time. Was interesting.<p>Note that the significant thing is not really the 10% deal but the fact that Netflix has to stop using their own in-app payment system with 3% fees (a rule Google Play previously did not enforce for them).<p>(I'm still at Google, so that's all I'll add about an ongoing legal case with my employer)
I'll serve APKs, and provide a payments service, for only 9% of Netflix's revenue on Android.<p>Or, for 5% of Netflix's revenue on Android, I'll serve APKs, and let Netflix use their preferred payments service.
So? The implication here seems to be that there's something wrong with offering a client a deal. Is it assumed that Google Play is a monopoly, and thus subject to some rules of "fairness" from public policy? But Netflix is a counterargument to Play being a monopoly...
You mean a company gives large customers discounts as incentives!!! I’m shock!<p>I bet AWS also has a secret deal with Netflix where they don’t have to pay retail prices. (Note sarcasm of course Netflix doesn’t pay retail).