Google Play policy update restricts pre-registrations, discovery and more to higher-tier fee payers

• Google's updated external offers programme eases the process of linking out of games.
• Developers will have to choose between Tier One and Tier Two fees and benefits.

Google has updated its external offers programme in the European Economic Area in compliance with the Digital Markets Act, granting mobile developers more flexibility.

Changes to the programme mean developers can more flexibly direct users away from in-game payments by linking out of an app, whether to a browser page, another app store already installed on the device, or in a webview.

URLs can also contain additional parameters provided no PII data is transferred within.

However, starting this autumn, developers will be required to declare the implementation of external app links in the Play Console. Google has argued that this is for security reasons, stating links leading users outside of Google Play "can expose users to serious security threats".

Users clicking such links will also be presented with an "information screen" informing them that they are leaving Google Play.

Apps that feature links to external sources will be reviewed for compliance with Google Play’s terms.

More to offer, more to give

Google has also updated its Play Store fee model with two tiers. Tier One is essential to publishing apps on the store, with standard services like a store listing, compliance information and the ability to find the app through an exact search match.

In Tier One, links to purchase in-app content will have a 10% fee on transactions with a successful offer conversion, while Tier Two will bring an additional 10% charge on in-app purchases. There are also distinct fee rates per installs for apps and games, each classed in one of four groups.

Importantly, Tier Two services are additional to Tier One, rather than mutually exclusive.

The enhanced Tier Two will be required for an app to appear in recommendations, discovery, editorial surfaces and in broader search results. Other tools and features like Android vitals, store listing experiments and pre-registration will also be restricted to only those apps and games in Tier Two.

Developers will be able to change an app’s tiering on a per-country basis every six months.