Proton ‘forced to pay Google 30pc of mobile revenues’

THE boss of Jack Dorsey’s “favourite email service” has complained that he’s “forced” to pay “biggest rival” Google a third of its mobile revenues to use its app store.

Proton chief executive Andy Yen told The Daily Telegraph his company is “paying our biggest competitor 30pc of our revenue from mobile,” even as it launches services that directly compete with the search giant.

Mr Yen added that he was glad the EU plans to impose higher taxes on large tech companies.

Google says its Play Store billing system is “required for developers offering in-app purchases of digital goods and services”. All payments made through the Play Store are subject to a 30pc surcharge, which goes straight to Google.

Mr Yen said: “With the current competition landscape we have tech giants that are bigger than ever, and in many places, in many cases, either it’s a monopoly or a duopoly on your online services.”

Describing Google as one of big tech’s “gatekeepers”, the former Cern particle physicist said the tech giants “can put up significant barriers to entry for anyone else to compete with them.”

Previously known as Protonmail, Mr Yen’s company is launching a suite of mobile apps to compete with Google’s Drive, Gmail and Calendar services. Twitter founder Mr Dorsey has called Protonmail his “favourite email service”.

June 1 marked the first day of a Google ban on Android app developers taking payments through non-google-controlled services, allowing them to avoid the surcharge.

Dating app Tinder’s parent company, Match is suing Google over the 30pc fee in US courts, alleging the business is exploiting its “monopoly in the Android app distribution market”. Google did not respond to a request for comment.