The Alphabet subsidiary has made a much better offer to one of the leading streaming services than we usually hear about, but Netflix has still said no.

The Verge reports that Netflix would have been able to keep 90% of the money it makes from Google’s Android operating system, meaning the tech giant would have only taken a 10% stake instead of the usual 30%. This was a special, rare offer and was revealed in documents from the lawsuit between Epic and Google. But Netflix didn’t take the opportunity.

This was back in 2017, but Netflix was not in a position to take the offer, as it predicted it would lose even more money. If every single sign-up on Android had come through Google Pay Billing, Netflix would have lost $250 million a year, and there was no scenario in which Google’s payment system would have performed as well or better than its own solution.

Google spokesman Dan Jackson declined to comment on the offer made six years ago, but said it was common practice for the advertising giant to offer different rates to developers. Interestingly, why hasn’t this happened to Epic Games, which has gained popularity with Fortnite? After all, that’s why they switched to their own payment system! “It’s no secret that Google Play offers a range of fees that take into account the different needs of our developer ecosystem or the economics of different industries or app verticals, like streaming video,” Jackson said.

Netflix subsequently accepted Apple’s offer. A few years later, the Cupertino-based tech giant offered a less favourable, but still good, deal: Apple will take just 15% of iOS revenue, half the 30% it used to take. Perhaps Netflix got the nod because US iOS users are used to using streaming services, so “home turf” favours the company.

Source: WCCFTech