Google Play Store under fire for freemium app model, could face €5 million in fines in Italy

The Antitrust and Competition Authority in Italy has launched an investigation into the increasingly common “freemium” app model, stating that customers could be misled by the label “free,” only to be charged unknown amounts for items within the app.

The freemium app model has become very common for many developers across multiple app markets, including the Google Play Store, Apple’s App Store and Amazon’s app store. It is a very simple model, offer your app for free, then allow the user to purchase from within the app additional features or in-app items, such as an in-game currency or additional levels, music, books, comics and more.

9 to 5 Google is reporting that the antitrust committee will look to determine if users who download these apps for free believe that they are completely free, not knowing when downloading the app how much it will actually cost. A number of app stores are on the hook here, but it is reported that Google could be fined as much as €5 million if found to have misled customers.

Google recently made adjustments to their Play Store developers policies. The changes include a new prominent statement if an app offers in-app purchases and requires developers to outline if in-app purchases are available to users. Following these guidelines, as an example, Disney has gone ahead and added info to the description of the game Frozen Free Fall that addresses the above concerns.

Earlier than you obtain this expertise, please think about that this app incorporates social media hyperlinks to attach with others, in-app purchases that value actual cash, push notifications to let you understand when we now have thrilling updates like new content material, in addition to promoting for The Walt Disney Household of Corporations and a few third events. In App Purchases from $zero.ninety nine-2.ninety nine

Ought to Google’s latest implementations be discovered missing, many app builders might be affected. I carried out a fast rely this night and located that 147 of the one hundred fifty top grossing apps in the Google Play Store make the most of the freemium mannequin. It's unknown presently if the Italian committee will goal the app markets based mostly solely on freemium apps, or if paid apps that additionally supply in-app funds shall be underneath the microscope as nicely. Both means, the Italian regulator plans to conclude their investigation by the top of the yr.

Do you discover the freemium app mannequin complicated in any method – particularly, have you ever ever been confused by a ‘free’ app into making a not-so-free in-app buy? That was an unfair and main query, so I’ll ask as an alternative, do you approve of the freemium app mannequin, or would you favor to only pay up entrance for an app to realize entry to all of its gadgets and performance?