8 in 10 app developers back measure to rein in Google, Apple: poll

Eighty-four percent of app developers support an antitrust bill aimed at curtailing the market power of Apple’s and Google’s app stores, according to a poll from the Coalition for App Fairness released Monday.

The industry group for app developers is pushing Congress to pass the Open App Markets Act, a bipartisan Senate bill that would block app stores from favoring their own in-house apps in searches, requiring developers to use their payment systems and preventing users from downloading apps from third-party stores.  

Developers surveyed by the group complained about exorbitant fees charged by the largest app stores — Apple charges a 30 percent commission on app store sales for large developers — and expressed how they’d experienced difficulty getting their apps featured or accepted by app stores. Just 13 percent of app developers surveyed oppose the bill. 

“The evidence is clear – app developers want the Open App Markets Act to pass so that they can have the opportunity to compete in a fair digital marketplace,” Meghan DiMuzio, executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness, said in a statement.

“For too long, developers have been harmed by gatekeepers’ monopolistic practices, and consumers have suffered from less choice and innovation.”

The proposal, co-sponsored by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), is scheduled for a committee markup this week. 

The CEOs of Apple and Google have personally lobbied lawmakers to abandon antitrust legislation targeting their app stores, warning that they would not be able to verify the security of apps downloaded from third-party stores. 

The poll, conducted by ClearPath Strategies, surveyed 190 app developers in 11 states between December 2021 and January 2022. The margin of error is plus or minus 7.11 percentage points.