Google releases OnePass, a payment system for publishers

Google releases OnePass, a payment system for publishers(googleblog.blogspot.com)

157 points by wigginus 15 years ago | 78 comments

Quite 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.

faramarz 15 years ago | |

I 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 15 years ago | | |

Well, they've been talking about it since September 2009: http://goo.gl/zYSzH

geekfactor 15 years ago | |

The 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.

markszcz 15 years ago | |

Just saw an update (towards the bottom, 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

olalonde 15 years ago | |

Well played Larry Page perhaps? ;)

jemfinch 15 years ago | | |

He's not the CEO until April 1 ;)

MrMatt 15 years ago | |

Indeed - will be interesting to see how this pans out, especially as Google already supplies the iOS mapping application backend.

pestaa 15 years ago | |

I would also add PayPal hasn't announced their micropayments a long time ago, either.

jonknee 15 years ago |

The 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.

masklinn 15 years ago | |

> The payment side is powered by Google Checkout, so the fee structure smacks Apple around all over the place.

Except for the part where as a vendor it's only available in half a dozen countries or so, and several major countries can not pay via Checkout either (does Checkout work at all from canada yet?), and where the customer service is non-existent (a Google constant).

a-google-guy 15 years ago | | |

>Half a dozen countries? Please see the countries mentioned in this support document: http://goo.gl/I49QQ

Canada is definitely supported for users.

>Where the customer service is non-existent: Hi. Any specific problem we can help with?

nudge 15 years ago | | |

Whereas PayPal and iOS App Store customer service are famously excellent?

markszcz 15 years ago | |

But 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)

jonknee 15 years ago | | |

Considering 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.

warmfuzzykitten 15 years ago | | |

The fee for One Pass is to be 10%. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12489318)

zyb09 15 years ago | |

They need to add other payment options then CreditCards to Google Checkout. Nobody uses CreditCards in Europe and it's kinda stupid that I can't even buy Apps on the Marketplace and have see if the vendor support direct purchase form their website via PayPal or something.

nudge 15 years ago | | |

> Nobody uses CreditCards in Europe

I'm a European and I use a credit card. And I'm pretty sure it's a billion dollar industry in my country alone.

nickpp 15 years ago | | |

> Nobody uses CreditCards in Europe

WTF are you talking about?

Credit Cards are a part of everyday in Europe just like everywhere else. And yes, I live in Europe too.

jonknee 15 years ago | | |

What payment options would you suggest? Apple only accepts credit / debit cards too (well and gift cards which are also primarily purchased with credit cards).

rkudeshi 15 years ago | | |

If not credit cards, then what do Europeans use?

markszcz 15 years ago |

Android 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 15 years ago | |

As 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.

Andrenid 15 years ago | | |

Do 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.

Kylekramer 15 years ago | | |

Really? 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.

modernerd 15 years ago |

One 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 15 years ago | |

If 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.

jbrennan 15 years ago |

In 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 15 years ago | |

Presumably it's something like 'can be used outside of a walled payment ecosystem like the app store'

uptown 15 years ago |

Doesn't this name clash with the Continental Airlines frequent flyer program name?

theBobMcCormick 15 years ago | |

Are people really going to confuse a frequent flyer program and a payment system?

uptown 15 years ago | | |

Perhaps 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.

axx 15 years ago | |

I'm sure, if this is going to court, they will have some money in the bank to pay them.

VMG 15 years ago | | |

but is it worth it?

mise 15 years ago |

The signup page is linking my to a generic Google help page.

btipling 15 years ago | |

And 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.

Kylekramer 15 years ago | | |

While 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.

nudge 15 years ago | | |

Would that be a bad thing? I doubt that's what they've done but it's just lean startup methodology.

modernerd 15 years ago | |

Perhaps they're trying to gauge support before rallying to actually build the thing.

mckoss 15 years ago | | |

This 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.

AndyJPartridge 15 years ago | |

Try here:

http://www.google.com/landing/onepass/

Edit: Ah, same problem. Sorry.

Edit 2: It's working now, but they are only after "some partners" so I guess it's a private Beta as such at the moment.

axx 15 years ago | |

I get the same "error". I think the real login is coming very soon. Maybe to much server load :-)

clscott 15 years ago |

It'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.

tomkinstinch 15 years ago |

I 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 15 years ago |

I bet it's killed or unpopular and neglected within four years.

ck2 15 years ago |

This is just a micropayment system from Google? Or am I missing something?

noodle 15 years ago |

i wonder if you can use this as a generic web application paid subscription solution like a merchant + recurly (for example).

berlusconi 15 years ago |

I 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

masklinn 15 years ago | |

According to jonknee above, the payment part of OnePass is powered by Checkout.

So I'd expect that to result in a "yes"

olalonde 15 years ago | |

Is this sarcastic? (never used Google Checkout)

JonnieCache 15 years ago | | |

Hard 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.

cosmicray 15 years ago | | |

I'm going to say yes. (because I sell on GC, like GC, but note their lack of ability to reach a living person there)