The previous post briefly examined the conflict between India's authorities against the dominance of the Google App Store. This next post considers the value of App Stores in general to other stakeholders.
Critics of the App Store business model often overlook its viability and usefulness to gigantic, large, and tiny developers and media creators. The large eco-systems of apps, developers, and content creators have grown even as governments, regulators, and courts see fights over business model practices.
The business model fights are over millions to billions of 'eyeballs' (views) and monies (payments). A key argument is the cost to App authors for Google’s payment processing for purchase and in-app revenue. Is Google price fair? Google service fees support User Choice Billing (alternate payment paths for in-app content [such as downloadable content in games]). The fight is also interesting as it pits a 'user view' perception of "it's all free on the Internet" with other very large enterprises (like Match or Paytm) wanting a larger share of monies paid in by users.
The fights over business model payment processing fees and who get each piece of those fees go back to Theodore Nelson's Project Xanadu (Computer Lib!) in the 1970s. As each new content link and monetization advertisement is delivered, each participant in the chain is grabbing more of the monies involved. In content delivery (music, video, movies, sports event shows), many global 'publishers' have longed for ways to charge users a 'per play' fee. Even existing 'royalty rights' (BMI, ASCAP, etc.) have not always worked to the satisfaction of content creators. The fights in India are just one more theater where the fighting continues – even as the smallest content creators feel left out and ignored.
Look for part 3 of Dynamic India vs. App Stores at www.ekalore.com/india-business
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