This week's story sits at the center of the out-of-app case: a UK court is now weighing, in open session, whether the up-to-30% store commission is ultimately paid by end users. The trial lands alongside recent regulatory and settlement pressure on the same economics, giving publishers a clearer read on where store-fee scrutiny is heading.

Google defends up-to-30% Play Store commissions as £1bn UK class action opens in London

Google is defending a collective action seeking more than £1bn (about $1.3bn) over Play Store commissions, with the trial opening October 6, 2026 at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. Brought by consumer representative Liz Coll, the claim covers roughly 20 million UK consumers and businesses and spans Google Play purchases — paid apps, in-app and in-game extras, subscriptions and upgrades — made between October 1, 2015 and July 31, 2026, alleging Google abused a dominant position by charging developers commissions of up to 30% that were passed on to consumers. The seven-week trial runs until November 20, 2026; eligible consumers and businesses are automatically included at no cost, and the claim is funded by Vannin Capital and insured. A Google spokesperson said the claim ignores the choice Android gives consumers and that Google charges "some of the lowest fees in the market," with the Play Store facing competition from Apple's App Store. The case follows a worldwide Google–Epic Games deal struck in March 2026 promising more billing options and lower developer fees, and a European Commission fine in July of roughly $1bn (€890m) tied partly to limits on steering players to payments outside the store.

Why it matters: The trial puts a concrete legal value on the up-to-30% commission and tests in court the argument that the fee is ultimately borne by end users — the exact economics that make an out-of-app channel worth building. For publishers, the practical signal is that store-fee pressure is now running simultaneously across courts and regulators rather than in a single jurisdiction, which strengthens the planning case for standing up a web-shop or external-payment path now rather than waiting on a slow, uncertain verdict.

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The takeaway

The pattern this week is consistency: commission economics are under pressure in the UK courts, in Brussels, and through the Epic settlement at once, and the direction of travel on store fees is one-way even if any single outcome is years off. Publishers don't have to wait for a verdict to recapture the margin themselves — the real question is whether the operational load of a DTC channel, from cross-border tax to payment compliance and fraud, is addressable. That overhead is precisely what a Merchant of Record absorbs, which is why the fee fight and the decision to move on out-of-app pricing can run on separate timelines.