What's the news: Google, on November 10, announced a couple of updates to its user choice billing pilot, which allows app developers to use a third-party billing system in addition to Google's in-app billing system and pay a reduced commission. Spotify has started testing alternative billing. Bumble has signed up for the pilot and will start offering its own payment system in the coming months. The user choice billing pilot has been expanded to more countries including the US. Why does this matter: Google's user choice billing is the biggest concession the company has made in its Play Store policies to date, and an expansion to the program comes at a time when there is considerable regulatory scrutiny on Play Store across the world. Most recently, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) passed an order requiring Google to allow third-party billing systems for all Indian developers, among other things. Spotify starts testing its own payment solution: When Google first announced user choice billing in March 2022, it said that Spotify would be the first partner to test the program. Starting this week, Android users in select countries will see the option to pay either through Google or Spotify. [caption id="attachment_171934" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Source: Spotify[/caption] In a blog post, Spotify said that "Google has taken a bold step to help level the playing field, but this is just the beginning. We’re looking forward to testing, learning and iterating a perpetually improving experience for our users in markets all around the world." "Spotify has been…
