Google offers developers $90 million to settle Play Store billing fight

Developers feel they were forced into using Google’s in-house payment processor.

Daniel Cooper
·Senior Editor
·1 min read
Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images

Google has offered to put $90 million on the table to settle a brewing conflict between it and a number of Android developers. As Reuters reports, the issue centers around the mandatory use of Google’s in-house payments platform, with its fixed 30 percent cut. Developers feel that Google had worked behind the scenes to close off the options for alternative payment systems. It’s prompted the search giant to offer a settlement to avoid “years of uncertain and distracting litigation.”

In a statement, Google said that, if the court approves the offer, it will put $90 million into a fund to “support US developers who earned two million dollars of less in annual revenue through Google Play during each year from 2016-2021.” If it goes ahead, Google will automatically notify the people who qualify for a payout, as well as affirm several changes it’s already started to make. This includes lowering the commission to 15 percent for the first $1 million in annual revenue, enabling developers to communicate with users outside of the app, and make it easier to use rival app stores and billing platforms.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Temporary farmworkers get more protections against retaliation and other abuses under new rule

    SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) — Temporary farmworkers will have more legal protections against employer retaliation, unsafe working conditions, illegal recruitment practices and other abuses under a Labor Department rule announced Friday. Each year about 300,000 immigrants, mostly from Mexico, take seasonal jobs on U.S. farms. The new rule, which takes effect June 28, will target abuses experienced by workers under the H-2A program that undermine fair labor standards for all farmworkers. Labor Secreta

  • A Gen X mom makes $25,000 at Applebee's and can only afford one meal a day. She's one of many Americans who live paycheck to paycheck but don't qualify for government help.

    Cherie Tobias, 48, can't afford groceries but doesn't qualify for government assistance.

  • Freight train derailment, fire forces Interstate 40 closure near Arizona-New Mexico line

    A freight train carrying fuel derailed and caught fire Friday near the Arizona-New Mexico state line, forcing the closure of interstate highway that serves as a key trucking route. No injuries were reported in the midday train wreck east of Houck, the Arizona Department of Transportation said in a news release. Interstate 40 was closed by authorities in both directions in the area in the early afternoon, directing trucks and motorists off the freeway to alternate routes, New Mexico State Police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety announced.

  • Procession route announced for fallen Ada County deputy. Here’s a map, traffic impacts

    The Ada County Sheriff’s Office expects “significant traffic congestion and delays along the route.”

  • Vice President Kamala Harris Tells Drew Barrymore 'I Have My Mother's Laugh'

    Harris has no shame in expressing her joy

  • Ellen DeGeneres breaks silence on talk show's 'devastating' end 2 years ago: Reports

    Two years after "The Ellen DeGeneres Show's" finale, the comedian opened up about how she felt after a report detailed a toxic workplace on set.

  • Editorial: Health Care Crisis

    Editorial: Health Care Crisis

  • Chin Teck Plantations Berhad Second Quarter 2024 Earnings: EPS: RM0.23 (vs RM0.032 in 2Q 2023)

    Chin Teck Plantations Berhad ( KLSE:CHINTEK ) Second Quarter 2024 Results Key Financial Results Revenue: RM51.3m (up...

  • Hailey Van Lith is headed to TCU for a final season after a one-year run with LSU

    Hailey Van Lith, who joined LSU this past season and reached the Elite Eight with the defending national champion before a loss to Caitlin Clark and Iowa, is transferring to TCU for her fifth and final season. Van Lith spent her first three seasons with Louisville, reaching a Final Four and another Elite Eight before deciding to join four-time champion coach Kim Mulkey's team at LSU.

  • Why can’t Sechelt Airport operate at night?

    The following are briefs from District of Sechelt’s April 16 Airport Development Select Committee. Sechelt recently hired a professional airport advisor who pointed out potential issues at the airport, district communications manager Lindsay Vickers told Coast Reporter. They stated that the airport is unsafe for night flights because the reduced visibility affecting depth perception combined with the surrounding trees is dangerous. Planes using the airport approach and depart relying solely on p

  • Heated moments at Pro-Palestine protest at ASU

    Heated protests sparked at ASU over the Hamas-Israel conflict in the Middle East.

  • Great Britain's Whitehouse retains European floor title

    Great Britain's Luke Whitehouse wins gold at the Gymnastics European Championships in Rimini, Italy as he retains his floor title.

  • Callander, Free Cycle weekend returns

    “One man’s rubbish may be another’s treasure.” So wrote Hector Urquhart in his introduction to The Popular Tales of the West Highlands. His rubbish referred to how some folk thought of these popular tales. This weekend’s rubbish may be a nice lamp. Callander’s Free Cycle weekend is back. It’s that time of year when folks bring their items to the curb, and if those items catch the eye of a passer-by, said item could be off your hands and out of your garage. We’re talking lamps, coffee tables, toy

  • Tornado tears through Nebraska, causing severe damage in Omaha suburbs

    OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A tornado plowed through suburban Omaha, Nebraska, on Friday afternoon, destroying homes and other structures as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions. Injuries were reported but it wasn’t yet clear if anyone was killed in the storm. Multiple tornadoes were reported in Nebraska but the most destructive storm moved from a largely rural area into suburbs northwest of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people. Photos on social media showed heavily damaged homes an

  • King Charles III's return to public duties is 'significant,' analyst says

    A royal expert from King's College London, Dr George Gross feels the announcement by Buckingham Palace that King Charles III will resume his public duties next week following treatment for cancer is significant after his long absence.

  • Golden Knights have limited Stars' scoring chances to take 2-0 series lead

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — The problems for Dallas are two-fold — the Stars aren't getting great scoring chances and for long stretches aren't even putting the puck on net. That's primarily why the Golden Knights are back in Las Vegas with a 2-0 lead in the first-round NHL playoffs series. Game 3 is Saturday night (10:30 p.m. EDT, TBS). In Game 1, a 4-3 Dallas loss, the Stars didn't get a shot on goal in the second period until 8:52 into it. Vegas closed out the 3-1 victory in Game 2 by holding Dallas wit

  • Reba McEntire to host ACM Awards for 17th time, talks fan diversity in country music

    Reba McEntire is set to host the Academy of Country Music Awards for a record 17th time. The music legend also talks about the discussion Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter” album has created about the lack of diversity among fans and singers in country music. (April 26) (AP Production by Gary Gerard Hamilton)

  • Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann out with nerve inflammation in elbow

    TORONTO — Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann will miss about seven to 10 more days with a sore elbow. Toronto manager John Schneider said on Friday that the 21-year-old left-hander has ulnar nerve inflammation. The diagnosis comes after Tiedemann met with team doctors earlier this week. "No second opinions on anything," said Schneider. "I'm confident he'll be back throwing again pretty soon." Schneider said it was the "best possible news" after the triple-A Buffalo Bisons put him on the

  • Helping Baltimore residents build towards home ownership

    A lot of us put our heart and soul into making our homes our own. But these soon-to-be homeowners are putting in a lot more than that. Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake and Bank of America volunteers worked on building five homes in South Baltimore's Curtis Bay neighborhood.

  • Car chase suspect renews concern over proposed Stuart sober house

    An Arkansas man arrested in a high speed crash in Palm City is renewing calls for concern from the Martin County Sheriff's Office over a proposed sober home in Stuart.