Fair Trade Commission Accelerates Investigation into Google's In-App Payment Fee Policy... Completes Survey of Domestic Game and Music Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] The Fair Trade Commission is accelerating its investigation into Google's in-app payment commission policy by conducting a written survey targeting domestic game, music, and webtoon companies.

According to the industry on the 27th, the Fair Trade Commission recently completed a written survey targeting domestic game, music, and webtoon companies that have released apps on the Google Play Store.

Google plans to mandate in-app payments for all apps using the Play Store starting at the end of September next year and charge a 30% commission on payment amounts. This measure is interpreted as a step to preliminarily examine the impact on the domestic industry if this policy is implemented.

The industry is expressing concerns that with Google taking a 30% commission on payment amounts, domestic industry sales will decrease and service prices will rise. In the case of music services, creators receive a certain percentage of the payment amount, so if the commission increases, the creators' share may decrease.

The Fair Trade Commission also plans to send a review report to Google early next year regarding allegations that Nexon, NCSoft, Netmarble, and others were forced to release their apps exclusively on Google's Play Store. In mid-this month, the commission sent a review report concerning allegations that Google obstructed competing operating systems (OS).

So far, since 2016, the Fair Trade Commission has been investigating whether Google forced smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung to pre-install its own OS, Android, excluding competitors and establishing a monopoly in the market. The commission will hold plenary meetings sequentially in the first half of next year to finalize the level of sanctions regarding Google's obstruction of competing OSs and demands for exclusive app releases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.