Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, February 16, 2011
Media / Tech Google Has a Flawed Subscription Platform, Too!
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 11:55 AM
The day after Apple finally made their in-app subscription plan official, Google announced their new One Pass program, which is their own subscription plan. Apple requires a 30% cut of all subscription and in-app revenues. Google asks for 10%. But TechCrunch points out that Google is offering publishers a whole lot more:
Here’s the key nugget that everyone seems to be overlooking:
With Google One Pass, publishers can maintain direct relationships with their customers and give readers access to digital content across websites and mobile apps.
I’ve confirmed that this means that customer information collected by Google will be shared with publishers. What kind of information? Name, zip code, and most importantly, email addresses. Billing information will not be shared, we’re told. Users can choose to opt-out of sharing this information, but they’ll have to explicitly do so. By default, the information is shared.
What this means is that as far as subscriptions go, the choice between Apple and Google is basically the same as it's always been: Apple offers a highly controlled (publishers and other critics would say too-controlled) experience. Google offers a less-tame array of options, but in return it makes your personal information into a commodity.
1
Torrent is looking keener and keener ...
2
You know, when you subscribe to a paper magazine, they flog your name and address and income level and email address and make and model of car you own and how much you paid for your house and when and everything else they can think of. You don't think they know those things about you? They do; they aggregate your data, or buy if from someone else who does.
3
if it's an image, it's recordable. if it's data, it's even easier.
You'd don't actually pay for the stuff you read on your Kindle, do you?
After all, if Amazon doesn't pay state, county, and local taxes, why should you pay fees to the publisher/writer/etc?
4
We used to do that all the times with NYT and WSJ accounts.
5
8
Will thinks he's a hacker because he knows someone who used to log into the NYT with an anonymous account.
Was it tinlc by any chance? I still log into the NYT with that one. If anyone was ever qualified to belong to the Lumber Cartel, it's you, Will. It's your internet; we're just passing through.
Will wouldn't know a torrent from a stream of piss. Will IS a stream of piss.
10
Music subscription services, like Rdio, Rhapsody, Spotify (one day), are dealing with razor-thin profits as it is due to the licensing fees they pay to the rights holders. There's no way they can support a 30% fee.
If you have an iPhone, expect to see these services disappear from it. I'm sure Apple will be happy to see these iTunes-store competitors go anyway.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (10) RSS