By Yuvraj Malik and Paresh Dave
(Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it is asking Spotify Technology SA to use its own payment system in its Android app as part of a new pilot regarding high fees and alleged antitrust behavior. to address the concerns of app makers.
Users who have downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store will be presented with the option to pay with Spotify’s payment system or Google Play billing in some countries in the coming months.
The pilot will allow a small number of participating developers, starting with Spotify, to offer an additional billing option next to Google Play’s billing system in their apps.
“This pilot will help us increase our understanding of whether user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories,” Google said in a blog post.
Under a new competition law in South Korea last year, Google also said it would allow developers to roll out a second payment system with them.
Spotify said its trial was part of a “multi-year agreement” with Google, without elaborating.
App developers like Spotify that sell digital goods have complained for years about using the Play Store and Apple Inc.’s App Store’s official payment system.
Google and Apple each collect up to 30% of the payment as fees, which the developers say is too much. Both have reduced fees in a number of circumstances, saying they are needed to fund a safe and secure mobile ecosystem.
Google did not specify the fee it would collect in the new pilot.
The company is expediting the implementation of its Google Play billing requirement, and has said that non-compliant apps may be barred from publishing updates starting Friday.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru and Paresh Dave in Oakland, California; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Mark Porter)
