Android Market rule prohibits use of third-party in-app payment services | Hacker News Reader

Android Market rule prohibits use of third-party in-app payment services

arstechnica.com

43 pointsGreekOphion7 comments

The rule is not new. Everyone claiming (or suggesting) that this rule is new is being lazy and sloppy (at best).

Here's a copy of the Android developer agreement from 2008:

http://web.archive.org/web/20081219010834/http://www.android...

Take a look at the definition of "Payment Processor" and section 3.3. That's the same rule we're talking about today. The effort put into enforcement may have changed, but the rule itself hasn't.

That's a good find.

The cynical side of me however thinks that this may have been Google's plan all along - get a big enough user base and then enforce the rule. It's a good way to recoup some money for the cost of developing the Android OS.

Not really. IIRC, they pay all of the "Payment Processor" money beyond their costs back to the carriers (though I'm not sure what happens with WiFi-only devices). I suspect, but can't prove that they're acting out of ecosystem concerns like uniformity and conversion rates. Even now, the enforcement is pretty lax. I've been looking at some random apps and it surprised me how many asked for off-market donations and the like. Perhaps donations that don't unlock features fall under the same exception that permits third-party payment for physical goods and digital goods [i.e. music or ebooks] (what I've thought of as the Amazon exception).

ok, I understand that they want to streamline the payments process, but what about those that Google didn't yet embrace into their "accepted sellers" exclusive club ? I am from Romania, and citizens of my country, as many others, cannot sell apps on the Android Market, Google's motivation being "legal complications". How come Apple found a way where Google can't ?

Remember that Apple has been at this since the beginning of the iTunes Music Store. They have a massive head start. You can always sell on a different market place.

it's still been 3.5 years since the Android Market went live for the first time. It's certainly enough time for any decent company (not to mention Google) to handle these kinds of things.

Edit: google has Google Adsense, which can send payments to pretty much anywhere in the world

Is Google heading the dreaded Microsoft naming way?

Google Play Store. Windows Live Search, eh I mean Windows Live Search Center. Games For Windows? Surely you mean Games for Windows - Live. Or Xbox Marketplace?

Also Google Wallet is unavailable in many countries as others have noted.

Oh well, I was hoping that someone would give Apple a run for money.

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