Android developers get “short-changed”, Google acknowledges

Some Android app developers aren’t receiving the earnings they’ve generated through web-based Market sales, according to a report from The Register.

Google’s Android Market support forums are full of devs claiming discrepancies with the orders being charged and the payout they’ve received each month. One forum poster comments “It could be that some of your orders aren’t charged until a day or so later and will therefore creep into a different payout day”. However, others note the issue goes beyond the normal lag and have missed  up to “100 orders a day at least for the last two days”.

Its also been reported that a large number of developers have failed to notice the inconsistencies, so you might want to take a closer look at your statements to make sure everything is accounted for. The Register notes rumblings of a “Developers’ Union” and there is even a petition going to renegotiate sales tax, initiate a removal appeal process, and more.

Google employee HeidiLC posted this response on behalf of the company:

Thanks for posting and for your patience. We’re aware of the issue, and we’re working on fixing it. Once the fix goes out (soon!), orders should be moved to the correct state, which will enable disbursement amounts to be recovered. So if your July activity payouts were underpaid, you will be notified, and your September 1 payout will contain the missing amounts.Sincere apologies for any inconvenience this has caused, and thanks again for posting your reports of the problem here.