Netflix Only Had To Pay Google 10 Percent Of In-App Purchases On Android, But The Video Streaming Service Declined The Offer

wccftech.com:

Netflix had an opportunity with Google where it would keep 90 percent of the revenue it earned thanks to a special and rare offer that was reportedly not provided to any other entity. According to documents and testimony in the Epic v. Google trial, the video streaming service declined the ‘once in a lifetime’ deal, but there were reasons for the company to come to that decision.

Back in 2017, Google offered Netflix a discounted rate of 10 percent of its in-app payments on Android, according to The Verge. While the deal sounds an enticing one, Netflix was not in a position to accept it because it forecast that it might have ended up losing even more money. In an internal document, an estimation was mentioned that even if all Android in-app signups came through Google Pay Billing, the video streaming service would lose around $250 million in a single year of those signs.

Additionally, there was no scenario in which Netflix saw Google’s payment system outperform its own or even match it. When speaking with The Verge, Google spokesperson Dan Jackson did not comment on the offer made to Netflix but mentioned that it was pretty normal for the advertising giant to provide different rates to developers.

“It’s no secret that Google Play offers a range of fees that take into account the varying needs of our developer ecosystem or economics of different industries or app verticals, like streaming video.”

Netflix may not have entertained Google’s offer, but it took one from Apple a few years ago, where its arrangement with the Cupertino firm meant that Apple only took 15 percent of revenue on iOS. For those that do not know, Apple typically charges 30 percent from developers, but it is likely that Netflix accepted this offer because