Google and Spotify will be giving you options on what payment system to use. The search giant introduces this new pilot program to counter the concerns of app makers about its high fees and alleged anticompetitive behavior. So, when users download Spotify from the Play Store, they will get an option of either Spotify's payment system or Google Play Billing. This option will be available in some countries in the coming months.
The pilot involves a small number of participating developers, beginning with Spotify. "This pilot will help us to increase our understanding of whether and how user choice billing works for users in different countries and for developers of different sizes and categories," Google said in a blog post.
Spotify says the trial is part of a "multi-year agreement," but it didn't elaborate on that statement. App developers like Spotify have complained for years about how Apple and Google require the official payment systems to run through their app stores. And both collect up to 30% of each payment as a fee, which developers have complained over.
In some circumstances, both have reduced the fees and have said they need to handle the payment systems for a safe and secure mobile ecosystem. Google hasn't specified how much it'll collect in this new pilot.