The two most talked about companies today, Apple and Google, have announced rival services that will enable publishers to set the price and billing terms for content sold through their apps, on the condition that Apple and Google will get a cut of revenue.
The subscription service from Apple allows newspapers, magazines, music, and video publishers to set payment terms for content chosen by users in the App Store. The deal will cover all purchases made either through the iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.
The One Pass subscription service from Google makes digital content available across devices such as tablets, smartphones and websites, and is likely to boost the Android platform. Google plans to get 10 per cent cut for all sales made on its platform.
On the other hand, Steven Jobs, chief executive officer of Apple, said, “Our philosophy is simple–when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing.”
The response from Google was swift though the company denies that it has been trying to counter Apple’s move. Google’s announcement is not restricted to mobile devices only; it will serve all web users.
Google One Pass also allows publishers more control over how they let users access content, and at what price. Google says, “Publishers have control over how users can pay to access content and set their own prices. They can sell subscriptions of any length with auto-renewal, day passes (or other durations), individual articles or multiple-issue packages. Google One Pass also enables metered models, where a publisher can provide some content or a certain number of visits for free, but can charge frequent visitors or those interested in premium content based on the business model that the publisher prefers.”