Android subscribers cannot subscribe to Netflix directly from the app
Perryman also said that before Google took away the ability of Netflix to offer its own in-app payment processing, Netflix was paying Google only 3% of subscription revenue. Evidence shown in court yesterday included testimony showing that before Google took away alternate forms of subscription payment options from Netflix, it offered the company a special deal that would drop the percentage of in-app revenue that Google would receive down to 10%.
Netflix executive Perryman testified under oath that the deal, offered in September 2017, would “Bring revshare to 10% on the condition that Netflix have a full commitment to GPB globally.” But Netflix turned it down because even after paying 10%, the video streaming firm forecasted that it would lose money. A Netflix internal document noted, “Assuming all Android in-app signups came through GPB, Netflix would lose ~$250M USD on 1 year of signups, even when accounting for the incremental uplift.”
Today, Netflix simply tells those Android users who download the Netflix app to subscribe to the service via the mobile browser on their devices. As a result, it currently pays Google 0% of its revenue although Android users can not sign up directly from the app. As for Android users, it’s a small inconvenience that probably wouldn’t stop most people from signing up for a subscription.