Thread

1. pi-victor · 1790425525 · focus · HN ↗

   I think it bothers OP less that they take a 15% tax than the fact that google provides terrible support for their own play store. If they would take that tax and provide good feedback and speedy version reviews, nobody would ever complain - it is expected to pay something since the play store doesn't run on good thoughts and prayers. But because they're a monopoly (or a duopoly if you count apple, which is a different platform altogether) they can afford to act this way.

   1. inputmice · 1790428175 · focus · HN ↗

      Author here: Indeed, 15% is fine. They do provide some services. They provide the CDN for downloading the APK. They handle sales taxes in the various countries, which would be a PITA to handle yourself. Similar-ish services like Patreon charge a fee too. The 30% they charged a couple of years back was bad. But I could live with 15% if the support were anything other than zero.

      1. rkangel · 1790428452 · focus · HN ↗

         The problem is that it ISN'T a fee for services as it should be. Their platform power means that they can levy a tax, and they don't feel the need to do anything on exchange for that.

         1. lemagedurage · 1790428866 · focus · HN ↗

            Yep, I'd hypothetically economically gladly build an alternative app store charging "only" 5% on app revenue. The blocker would be that Google has a hold on what store is installed by default on Android. Apple even more so. This is hardly a fair market.

            1. philipallstar · 1790429067 · focus · HN ↗

               That would work because someone else "Google" is doing all the development of Android etc etc. Of course you can create a parasitic service for less.

               1. pydry · 1790431427 · focus · HN ↗

                  theres nothing parasitic about a competing app store.

                  it is parasitic to try and prohibit competing app stores and then leverage your monopoly by charging monopoly prices.

                  everything google is trying to do to discourage graphene, newpipe, competing app stores, etc. is parasitic and it's right that they are being fined by the EU for this behavior.

                  1. philipallstar · 1790439133 · focus · HN ↗

                     > theres nothing parasitic about a competing app store.

                     I think a more honest way to say this might be: Android OS development is massively funded by Google, and the Play Store feeds into this hugely. No other store does this, so it shouldn't be surprising that they can charge a lower fee. They're just doing the easy bit.

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