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Google releases OnePass, a payment system for publishers
- Pewpewarrows 16y agoQuite impeccable timing on Google's part, merely days after developers and publishers are up-in-arms over Apple's 30% cut for on-device content. Well played Schmidt, well played.
- olalonde 16y agoWell played Larry Page perhaps? ;)
- jemfinch 16y agoHe's not the CEO until April 1 ;)
- MrMatt 16y agoIndeed - will be interesting to see how this pans out, especially as Google already supplies the iOS mapping application backend.
- pestaa 16y agoI would also add PayPal hasn't announced their micropayments a long time ago, either.
- markszcz 16y agoJust saw an update (towards the bottom, http://bit.ly/hY8Jig http://bit.ly/hY8Jig) "Huffington Post reports that publishers will keep 'in the range of 90%' of revenues from One Pass -- quite a nice bump from Apple's 70% offering." Update: CNet's explination: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20032217-1.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20032217-1.html
- faramarz 16y agoI honestly think this is something Google mashed together overnight in response to Apple's annoucement. Look at the page. It's just an informational landing page. no breakdown of the framework, pricing or any details, and once you click the signup button, you are put on a queue for a sales rep to contact you. I love it though. It's a great case study for startups! I think they're gauging interest with this one, simple page.. and if enough people sign-up they will actually build it over the weekend.
- kawera 16y agoWell, they've been talking about it since September 2009: http://goo.gl/zYSzH http://goo.gl/zYSzH
- geekfactor 16y agoThe payment angle is timely given Apple's recent moves, but am I correct in reading this as Google offering an officially sanctioned way to get paywalled content into the index? In the past, publishers had to either offer First Click Free or resort to cloaking or other black-hat techniques for their for-pay content. If Google is now willing to allow paywall content into the index for a 3% fee then that's a big deal. I can't imagine this pushing search results quality in the right direction, at least from the perspective of a typical user.
- uptown 16y agoDoesn't this name clash with the Continental Airlines frequent flyer program name?
- axx 16y agoI'm sure, if this is going to court, they will have some money in the bank to pay them.
- theBobMcCormick 16y agoAre people really going to confuse a frequent flyer program and a payment system?
- uptown 16y agoPerhaps not right now, but Google has already shown their interest in the flight information industry with their pending $700 million bid for ITA. Its not a stretch to assume that they may use this acquisition to provide a method to search-for and purchase airline tickets using their mobile payment system.
- mise 16y agoThe signup page is linking my to a generic Google help page.
- btipling 16y agoAnd there's no demonstration of how it works in the video or in any images. It's as if some people at Google decided to react to Apple's recent bad press by putting up a web page and a blog post announcing a product without actually having built anything yet.
- nudge 16y agoWould that be a bad thing? I doubt that's what they've done but it's just lean startup methodology.
- Kylekramer 16y agoWhile I suspect One Pass is probably quite a bit from actual use by any publisher, this press release/the video has probably been in the works ever since the rumblings about Apple's subscription plans made the rounds. While not the most honest move, it is a brilliant PR coup.
- Pooter 16y ago> While not the most honest move, it is a brilliant PR coup. You misspelled vaporware. Apple announced something they're gonna roll out in the next rev. of iOS. Google put out a press release.
- modernerd 16y agoPerhaps they're trying to gauge support before rallying to actually build the thing.
- mckoss 16y agoThis smells like vapor-ware; a pure marketing move. The timing of the announcement, coming so close on the heals of the uproar about Apple's subscriptions and pricing battles with publishers, makes it look like Google is floating a trial balloon without having an actual product available.
- modernerd 16y agoOne Pass "also offers payments in mobile apps, in instances where the mobile OS terms permit transactions to take place outside of the app market." Nice dig.
- foobarbazetc 16y agoIf you read the Android Market terms of service, you'll see that you're not allowed to use any payment processor except Google Checkout. The only exception is if Google Checkout isn't available in your country.
- berlusconi 16y agoI wonder if the customer service for OnePass payments will be as good as it is for Google Checkout. I'm thinking of previous discussions such as: Google Checkout Nightmare and the $126,000 phone call: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1432107 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1432107
- olalonde 16y agoIs this sarcastic? (never used Google Checkout)
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- JonnieCache 16y agoHard to tell. Google Checkout's UX is generally very good, better than paypal, however it is simply unavailable in many (most?) countries. EDIT: Oh he said customer service. Google's direct customer service is notoriously nonexistent.
- stanleydrew 16y agoThey have support for lots of countries now: http://goo.gl/I49QQ http://goo.gl/I49QQ.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- cosmicray 16y agoI'm going to say yes. (because I sell on GC, like GC, but note their lack of ability to reach a living person there)
- masklinn 16y agoAccording to jonknee above, the payment part of OnePass is powered by Checkout. So I'd expect that to result in a "yes"
- markszcz 16y agoAndroid dabbler/developer here. I like how google is empowering their developers with different pricing strategies. Before it was plain vanilla, either you pay, or its free. Yes you can pay for an app and within 15 minutes ask for a refund, but I have trouble sending in a rebate, I know i'll forgot within those 15 minutes. With these extra payment options, and from what I understand, easy charging system, having someone drop a dollar on content with few clicks or even being able to implement coupons for your content/application will be greatly appreciated. =)
- abhigupta 16y agoAs a consumer, I don't like the fact that now I will have to keep track of different way each website will charge me money.
- Kylekramer 16y agoReally? If the terms are clear at the point of sale and there is one central place to review all your purchases, what's the problem? This is a huge simplification of the normal publication methods (subscribe through this company, buy from that newsstand, get an app on all of these platforms) that I don't see how this is more complex. I personally think trying to fit every type of publication in one hole is a much worse solution.
- Andrenid 16y agoDo you have the same trouble walking through a mall, dealing with the different pricing structures and mixture of cash & credit at stores? I really don't think it's much different.
- jonknee 16y agoThe payment side is powered by Google Checkout, so the fee structure smacks Apple around all over the place. The most expensive tier (under $3000 in monthly sales) is 2.9% + $0.30. The cheapest is 1.9% + $0.30.
- markszcz 16y agoBut if your charging within your Android application " the transaction fee for in-app purchases is the same as the transaction fee for application purchases (30%). " (http://developer.android.com/guide/market/billing/index.html http://developer.android.com/guide/market/billing/index.html)
- jonknee 16y agoConsidering OnePass was just announced and isn't shipping yet, I don't think we can know yet if it will be billed the same as Android's existing in app purchasing.
- markszcz 16y agoAgreed, but i read that "One Pass offers payments in mobile apps (i.e. in Android apps)" Maybe there will be a differently tiered charging system depending on the content (news content vs application specifc content like a new level for a game).
- jonknee 16y agoOnePass appears to be limited to the publishing industry, so there would be no new levels for a game.
- warmfuzzykitten 16y agoThe fee for One Pass is to be 10%. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12489318 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12489318)
- masklinn 16y ago
- tomkinstinch 16y agoI had an urge to implement something similar while ago using OpenID. Since OpenID authentication has a handshake between a content website and an identity provider, it would provide the perfect channel for handling accounting. Paying to read an article would be as simple as logging in. It is undeniable that Google has enough gravity as an identity provider to encourage publishers to adopt such a model. I don't really see how to get people to pay for an article sight unseen, though. Familiarity with content by known authors may be enough for some.
- alanh 16y agoI bet it's killed or unpopular and neglected within four years.
- noodle 16y agoi wonder if you can use this as a generic web application paid subscription solution like a merchant + recurly (for example).
- ck2 16y agoThis is just a micropayment system from Google? Or am I missing something?
- jbrennan 16y agoIn the blog post they say it will be "Open". What do they mean by that? Open source? Open for everyone in the world? From what I can tell in the post, it's only available in some countries, and it's also only available with Google Checkout. I'm not saying those are bad things, just wondering what it has to do with "Open". Unless of course Google is just continuing to use it as a buzzword.
- nudge 16y agoPresumably it's something like 'can be used outside of a walled payment ecosystem like the app store'
- clscott 16y agoIt's not just in response to Apple, the timing is just fortuitous, O'Reilly's Tools of Change ( a publishing industry conference ) is on in New York this week and it was probably timed to coincide with that event.