In what seems to be a massive oversight on Google’s part, developers from all over Europe are reporting that their expected Android Market/Google Play Store payments for early March have not been delivered. Though the payments are marked as delivered in the internal developer systems, the money simply isn’t appearing in developers’ accounts. Those who have reached out to Google directly via developer support channels have thus far been met with silence. After almost a week of reports in the Google Checkout help section, the primary complaint thread has hundreds of replies.
That’s not all: developers who opt for ad-based apps are seeing significantly fewer returns from AdMob, Google’s in-house mobile advertising service. Many are reporting roughly 70% fewer returns, despite a steady or climbing number of clicks. While the number of replies in the Google Groups thread doesn’t necessarily guarantee that every European Android Market/Google Play developer is experiencing this, the widespread nature would seem to suggest that it’s affecting users in every country in western Europe.
Many developers mote that they rely on the income that the Android Market provides in either a full-time or supplementary capacity, and Google’s continuing silence on the matter is unacceptable considering that they take 30% of revenue on paid apps. We have to agree – for all of Google’s considerably charitable freebies, when it comes time to get someone on the phone (even for paying customers) it’s nearly impossible to do so. Depending upon Google’s terms of service for Google Play, Google Checkout/Wallet and Adsense, they may not actually be doing anything wrong, but they’re sure earning a lot of bad will across the pond.
[via Reddit]
