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Google Announces One Pass Payment System

eldavojohn writes "Riding the tail of Apple's 30% announcement, Google's Eric Schmidt has announced One Pass, a new method for users to pay for content. The BBC is reporting that Google is taking a 10% cut. One Pass will work on Google sites and on phones and tablets as the announcement notes: 'Readers who purchase from a One Pass publisher can access their content on tablets, smartphones and websites using a single sign-on with an email and password. Importantly, the service helps publishers authenticate existing subscribers so that readers don't have to re-subscribe in order to access their content on new devices.' This is to be handled through Google Checkout."

135 comments

  1. Google Checkout? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You mean the payment system that's only available to businesses in about three countries and completely useless to the rest of the world?

    1. Re:Google Checkout? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean the payment system that's only available to businesses in about three countries and completely useless to the rest of the world?

      This sums it up. Google may offer a lot of services but outside USA it's essentially just a search engine. Voice, checkout etc are not even available in Canada.

    2. Re:Google Checkout? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is the one !

    3. Re:Google Checkout? by clarkkent09 · · Score: 2

      Google would love it if the whole world is using its payment system. The problem is laws (esp. financial regulation), lack of law enforcement and corruption in a lot of countries, not Google. Some countries are just more trouble than they are worth.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    4. Re:Google Checkout? by angus77 · · Score: 1

      ... lack of law enforcement and corruption in a lot of countries, not Google. Some countries are just more trouble than they are worth.

      First they take on corruption in China, now they're taking on corruption in Canada! Thank God for Google!

    5. Re:Google Checkout? by clarkkent09 · · Score: 1

      That would be down to the differences in financial regulation. It is smarter for Google to start with US and get the system working within the largest market then add countries one by one, than to try to setup a system to handle every single country in one go. It was same with Paypal, they started with US only and now they handle 100+ countries.

      --
      Negative moral value of force outweighs the positive value of good intentions.
    6. Re:Google Checkout? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      This sums it up. Google may offer a lot of services but outside USA it's essentially just a search engine. Voice, checkout etc are not even available in Canada.

      Canada... isn't that another one of those made-up places, like Imagination Land?

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    7. Re:Google Checkout? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I imagine this will use their Android version of checkout which, and I quote, supports:

      Merchants in Argentina*, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil*, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel*, Italy, Japan, Mexico*, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russia*, Singapore, Spain, South Korea*, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan*, United Kingdom, and the United States can also use Google Checkout to sell applications on Android Market.

    8. Re:Google Checkout? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean the payment system that's only available to businesses in about three countries and completely useless to the rest of the world?

      Wait... there are 3 countries?

    9. Re:Google Checkout? by magus_melchior · · Score: 1

      Hey, it beats having the retailer (*cough*Amazon*cough*) decide for me whether or not I can buy something from a foreign vendor with a card issued in the US.

      --
      "We are Microsoft. You shall be assimilated. Competition is futile."
    10. Re:Google Checkout? by alostpacket · · Score: 2
      That's not true for the mobile/Android Market stuff. They also have 7 countries for publishers for the launch of this service (From the Goog blog link: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. -- did you read the link? I'm betting not ).

      Anyways, your criticism seems a bit off. I'm sure those 7 will increase as they get the details sorted. So while maybe you can do a worldwide simultaneous launch of a financial transaction system, us mere mortals understand that some things take time to get underway.

      Here's the Android Market:

      Currently, developers in the below countries may register as Google Checkout merchants and sell paid applications:

      http://checkout.google.com/support/sell/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=150324

      1. Agentina
      2. Australia
      3. Austria
      4. Belgium
      6. Brazil
      7. Canada
      8. Czech Republic
      9. Denmark
      10. Finland
      11. France
      12. Germany
      13. HongKong
      14. India
      15. Ireland
      16. Israel
      17. Italy
      18. Japan
      19. Mexico
      20. Netherlands
      21. New Zeland
      22. Norway
      23. Poland (Don't forget about Poland!)
      24. Portugal
      25. Russia
      26. Singapore
      27. South Korea
      28. Spain
      29. Sweden
      30. Switzerland
      31. Taiwan
      32. United Kingdom
      33. United States



      /Poland -- never forget.

      --
      PocketPermissions Android Permission Guide
    11. Re:Google Checkout? by jrumney · · Score: 1

      PS: The * means "not really, but they can use Ad-Words".

    12. Re:Google Checkout? by ivucica · · Score: 2

      Oh dear, not that excuse again. Apple solved it without owning a local representative in Croatia. Why can't Google, with a significantly greater local and localized presence? Even worse thing with Microsoft and their XBLA and Phone 7; they actually own a local company Microsoft Hrvatska, yet they not only don't want to sell in Croatia, they also can't process Croatian sales.

      Oh, and despite Checkout being here, Android Market paid apps are unavailable in Croatia.

    13. Re:Google Checkout? by StripedCow · · Score: 1

      I love seeing the banks getting cut out of the loop. They should have given us a secure and simple micropayment system a decade ago.

      --
      If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
  2. Re:Fight! by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 0

    Google's only charging 10% juice as opposed to Herr Jobs' 30%...FaTaLiTy!

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
  3. Awesome, now get cut the OEMs in by BitZtream · · Score: 2

    So they have some reason to upgrade old phones. They aren't going to do it with no incentive.

    Otherwise you might as well just quit now cause devs will either target the phone with the features they want and have a limited amount of potential customers until everyone has completed the 2 year contract upgrade cycle OR devs will target 1.6 to get the largest audience and well, it won't be worth bothering with Android devices.

    --
    Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    1. Re:Awesome, now get cut the OEMs in by LodCrappo · · Score: 1

      From another article:

      "It won't be limited to Android, either. Google says that One pass "offers payments in mobile apps, in instances where the mobile OS terms permit transactions to take place outside of the app market". Not the iPhone then, but it's possible we could see One Pass on BlackBerry OS, WebOS, Windows Mobile or even Symbian."

      Sounds like the payments are done in the apps, not the OS. If so, should work fine on older Android systems, no need for an update from oems.

      --
      -Lod
    2. Re:Awesome, now get cut the OEMs in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you want to stay relevant, you sometimes have to do both. Bleeding edge users affect your reputation the most. We've already set up an additional compile path on Gingerbread to use native audio. Eventually we'd have to do it anyway as devices merge in that direction.

  4. Comparison by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It will be interesting to see how these systems (OnePass and Apple's App Store) compare. Does anyone know if Google is hosting the content free of charge on the Google App store, or is this payment system independent of hosting? It seems like the latter from the two articles I read, but they were both vague. In the end I suppose most publishers will use both to target the most eyeballs, but with both mobile powerhouses stepping in, Amazon and B&N and Sony are going to have to step up their game.

    1. Re:Comparison by Qwavel · · Score: 2

      I think there are more important issues then where the content is hosted.

      The most important so far is the 30% cut Apple is taking versus Google's 10%.

      Apple's system is opt-in for providing publishers with your contact info, whereas Google is opt-out (by default they will provide your contact info, including e-mail address).

      Also important, Apple's system only works on Apple devices and doesn't let you take your content with you if you want to use a non-Apple device.

      Google's system attempts to work everywhere (it has a browser version). If the browser version of Google's service uses Flash (for the DRM) it won't work on Apple devices and Apple would block it from their App Store, so it might not be available on Apple devices.

      I've often wondered whether that is one of the main reasons why Apple blocked Flash - it gives companies a way to deliver protected content to Apple users without Apple tax and approval? Doing DRM in javascript is possible but very difficult and probably less effective.

    2. Re:Comparison by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      One other big difference is that Apple is requiring that prices for products sold via their system are the same or better as in any outside sales channel the seller may also provide.

    3. Re:Comparison by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

      Being a prog, I can tell you my reason why I would block flash....the worst piece of crap possible with still so many vulnerabilities, you thought 100 monkeys were left in a room with a keyboard and eventually got flash. The problem also but good business sense on adobe's part (dont get me wrong, they are geniuses of business), is that flahs is so popular and free that every machine usually has flash, something like 99% of pcs out there running windows....so that is just another attack vector (*1000) to allow someone to get root.

      Apple is all about security and trust of the apps running on their OS, and this again is good business sense , if you want to pride yourself that there are almost no apple viruses, and yes the argument of not being as popular, or it could just be, the coders took their time to write the code properly...with security in mind....although there will always be situations you could not think of...such as when a third party is installed on the machine with root priv. then this is something that is sandboxed, but not in windows...oh nos...

    4. Re:Comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple is about security?

      Isn't that the same Apple that released iOS4 with such a massive security hole that the phone could be jail-broken by going to a website?

      And when they fixed that the hackers found a new way to unlock that is based on a low-level firmware vulnerability that Apple can't fix even with an OS upgrade?

      No, Apple is about control, not security.

    5. Re:Comparison by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF · · Score: 1

      Apple is about security?

      They are about security, but security going forward that is good enough most users don't have to worry about it. It's like the old Volkswagon motto of making cars so users don't have to worry about the car.

      Isn't that the same Apple that released iOS4 with such a massive security hole that the phone could be jail-broken by going to a website?

      Yup. Security isn't just about finding every possible exploit. It's also about fixing them and making sure you can fix them. Apple fixed that particular exploit in 9 days. That's nine days from the exploit being made public to Apple having fixes pushed out to users. Now imagine if that was a Flash exploit. Suddenly Apple has a hard choice, revoke the Flash keys so Flash breaks on all phones (after users have come to rely upon it) or wait for Adobe to get around to fixing the exploit (and we all know how rapid they are about such things).

      Lack of Flash on the iPhone prevents developers from using it exclusively and keeps Apple out of the position of having to make that really crappy choice. It puts security back into Apple's hands so when there is a problem, they can fix it.

      And when they fixed that the hackers found a new way to unlock that is based on a low-level firmware vulnerability that Apple can't fix even with an OS upgrade?

      This isn't really a security concern for users though. Apple doesn't really care about jailbreakers, just about the underlying security problems that allow jailbreaking and the potential concern for normal users. That's where they could lose money.

      No, Apple is about control, not security.

      Apple is about control. They don't want to be dependent upon Adobe or anyone else for solving problems with battery life, security, or developer access to new features on the iPhone. But Apple is about control for security reasons among others.

  5. Re:Fight! by bonch · · Score: 0, Redundant

    "This is to be handled through Google Checkout."

    Who uses that?

  6. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    not many yet, thats why they make nice stuff go through it.

  7. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody outside the USA and UK.

  8. Ownership by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    I think it's very misleading when they say it's "our content" which "we own".
    You don't own the content unless it's in your possession.
    In the virtual world I have a Beam Rifle and a Plasma Sword but it doesn't mean that I "own" one.

  9. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Paypal isn't a smart choice, so it's either Checkout or CC.

  10. Re:Fight! by Tobenisstinky · · Score: 1

    But Google is taking 100% of where you are, what you are reading, what you are viewing, what demographic you are in ....

    --
    wha'? where am i?
  11. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So is Apple.

  12. Re:Fight! by Majkow · · Score: 1

    and apple isn't?

  13. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google's only charging 10% juice as opposed to Herr Jobs' 30%...FaTaLiTy!

    But you have to host the content yourself, and users have to accept the risk you might go out of business - REVERSE FATALITY!

  14. Re:Fight! by bhcompy · · Score: 1

    Because?

  15. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And who cares? There are so many ways to get this info already, the privacy fight is dead. Whatever privacy you think you have, is an illusion. I'm not saying that because I think we shouldn't have privacy, I'm just saying it because I've recently been doing some research on myself (I'm a very private person) and the amount of info I found was staggering. Some of it is even correct, and almost none of it was posted by me directly (and thus very hard for me to prevent.) I've just given up. These days the only way you can really have privacy is by living as a hermit without any contact with other people. Even using false names only sort of works because of the many cases where partial information can be correlated with other info (shipping address for anything you actually want delivered, etc).

  16. Re:Fight! by Qwavel · · Score: 1, Troll

    Wrong.

    Both companies record what you are reading and your personal info, which is nothing new.

    What is new is that Apple, as of iOS v4, is tracking your exact (GPS) location and is selling the data (after making it anonymous) to other companies. That was widely reported last July when it was announced.

    On Android that is opt-in. Google is only tracking who decide they are OK with being tracked and Google has never sold user data.

  17. Re:Fight! by Surt · · Score: 1

    Because paypal has a notoriously bad customer experience if anything ever goes wrong with a purchase.

    --
    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  18. Who the customer is... by Space+cowboy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The big difference for me between Apple's and Google's approach isn't the 30% / 10% - that can be changed by either party in either direction at any time. The freakin' huge difference is in the user-privacy settings.
    • Apple make the user specifically opt-in on a case-by-case basis for letting the publisher grab hold of your name & zip-code
    • Google by default send your name, zip-code, email address to the publisher.

    In Google's eyes, you are the product they are selling to the customer (the publisher). In Apple's eyes, you are the customer. I know which I prefer.

    Simon

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
    1. Re:Who the customer is... by MaWeiTao · · Score: 2

      While I appreciate the implications of this sort of thing I don't see the problem in this situation.

      If I purchased directly from the publisher wouldn't I be providing that information anyway? If I were a publisher I'd definitely like to know who's buying from me so why should I be blocked from getting that info?

    2. Re:Who the customer is... by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Until Apple changes it's mind or caves in. Anyhow giving your details to the subscriber is what you do today when you subscibe to the paper variant, why is this all of a sudden a privacy violation?

    3. Re:Who the customer is... by LodCrappo · · Score: 0

      How exactly is Google "selling" your information? It makes for a nice little quip, but I don't see truth here.

      You know, there was a time when publications would not sell you a subscription without your *full mailing address* (the horror). Is a name, email and zip code really that big of a deal?

      --
      -Lod
    4. Re:Who the customer is... by Reapman · · Score: 1

      This is why I vow to only subscribe to paper magazines! This way they'll NEVER figure out my name, zip-code, or email !!!

    5. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is entirely false. Read the ToS for Google Checkout. Google don't send anything to the seller that you don't want sent - including email address. They send the seller an anonymized email address for correspondence if necessary.

    6. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I buy mine from either a news stand, or the apple store.
      I don't care to have the magazine resell my information to their advertisers.

    7. Re:Who the customer is... by Qwavel · · Score: 1

      One is opt-in, one is opt-out.

      You think that is more important then the 20% difference?

    8. Re:Who the customer is... by fidget42 · · Score: 2

      While I appreciate the implications of this sort of thing I don't see the problem in this situation.

      If I purchased directly from the publisher wouldn't I be providing that information anyway? If I were a publisher I'd definitely like to know who's buying from me so why should I be blocked from getting that info?

      But if you buy from Amazon, both Amazon and the publisher get your information. If you buy from Google then Google, the publisher and anyone else that Google wants will get your information.

      --
      The dogcow says "Moof!"
    9. Re:Who the customer is... by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      user "privacy" settings.. about as effective as the 'close door' button on the elevator.. You are not the customer. You are an "ugly bag of money".

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    10. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you the kind of person who edits Wikipedia by providing citations to your own posts here on Slashdot -- as if they are authoritative sources?

    11. Re:Who the customer is... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      " In Apple's eyes, you are the customer."
      BWAHAHAHAhahahah.. of thats rich.

      You need to stop listening to Apples press rleases. or rather, learn to think properly when reading them.
      Here:
      http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/16/2132225/Google-Announces-One-Pass-Payment-System#comments

      "Apple says customer privacy will be protected and users will be prompted with an option to share their name, email and zip or postal code with a publisher when they subscribe. When a user shares information, personal info will be governed by a publisher's privacy policy and not Apple's, the company says."

      No explain to me how a publisher can get all the information it need to set up the service, and yet not know who you are?
      In other word, you won't have a choice if you want the subscription. This is a magician choice; where you ahve the illusion of control, but for all practicality, you do not.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    12. Re:Who the customer is... by geekoid · · Score: 4, Informative

      Because I don't want you to know I am reading your publication, for what ever reason. Maybe I don't want people knowing I subscribe to 2600, or high times, or Visual Basic magazine... especially not Visual Basic Magazine.

      Just because you sell me something doesn't mean you have the right to my information.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    13. Re:Who the customer is... by Antisyzygy · · Score: 1

      In Apple's eyes you are leasing their property, you don't own your own hardware.

      --
      That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".
    14. Re:Who the customer is... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 1

      They send the seller an anonymized email address for correspondence if necessary.

      Your ideas intrigue me and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter (using an anonymous email address, of course)

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    15. Re:Who the customer is... by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      it's not a 20% difference, it's a 300% difference, apple charges 3 times as much as google, conversely google charges one third as much as apple.

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    16. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are a product to Apple as well. They may not give the information to the publisher but to think Apple won't use it in a way similar to how a publisher would use it is naive in the extreme.

      Instead of publisher X saying: Space Cowboy likes to read about topics A, C and D I will use that information.

      Apple will say: Hey publisher X, Space Cowboy likes to read about topics A, C and D which you publish information about. Would you like to pay for us to advertise to him/her?

    17. Re:Who the customer is... by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      You are subscribing to that publisher. If you got actual hard copy you would supply name, address, postal address, telephone number, postcode, state and credit card details. All apple is doing is hiding your details for it's own benefit to on sell adding a little bonus on top of that thirty percent.

      For the publisher it is terrible there just left with a whole bunch of apple subscriptions with no idea if they are doing well in any particular region, if they need to change content to more accurate target their desired audience or if they need to include more content from certain regions, unless of course if they pay more money to apple for that data (rent only, not buy).

      So reality is publishers best option, loudly and often shout, Apple sucks, don't buy apple, Apple is overpriced, and the publisher is far better off financially.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    18. Re:Who the customer is... by MidnightBrewer · · Score: 1

      However, I think the 10% is far more reasonable, and I'm saying this as an iPhone user. 30% for the app and 10% for content doesn't seem that unreasonable. Although the data management and delivery would probably be the same, there's no review process overhead as there is with apps. As a customer of Kindle and Audible, I'm against Apple's current audacious grab of 30%, since it threatens the continued availability of material from those providers.

      --
      "Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life
    19. Re:Who the customer is... by dakameleon · · Score: 1

      Ultimately for me, what matters is the end price I pay. If I pay $9.99 to buy product x and it is the same price on each platform, then what matters to me is that I paid $9.99. For the publisher, their revenue is $9.99, $8.99 or $6.99 depending on which platform I bought it from.

      A publisher would be insane to prefer the Apple platform, unless they can "make it up in volume" - that Apple would deliver 20% or 30% more customers.

      Objectively though, what rankles is that Apple is declaring that the price on the iOS platform must be equal to or lower than the lowest price offered elsewhere for the same product. A 30% increase in costs and it's not reflected in the end-user price? No wonder publishers are upset.

      --
      Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
    20. Re:Who the customer is... by dakameleon · · Score: 1

      Why is that? From my understanding, their system will be delivering the product to a particular user account, generally tied to a particular iOS device. That doesn't entail any exchange of personal details that would be useful in identifying you to a marketing agency.

      Most likely the information will be solicited through promotions and other freebie enticements to get you to exchange a little bit of info for a little bit of a back-rub, or at least the possibility of one.

      --
      Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
    21. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > more important then the 20% difference?

      More important THAN. THAN.

      Why did you write THEN? On a Qwerty board, A and E aren't even contiguous. It wasn't a typo.

    22. Re:Who the customer is... by SnowZero · · Score: 1

      Just because you sell me something doesn't mean you have the right to my information.

      You can opt out if you want to:
      When publishers use One Pass, which for now is limited to online newspapers and magazines, Google will also share the customer’s name, ZIP code and e-mail address, unless a user decides to opt out.
      http://venturebeat.com/2011/02/16/google-one-pass/

      In the paper world subscriber lists have full addresses, which can be used to get masses of data from traditional direct mail databases. So zip+email is already an improvement, especially if you set up a special email account for subscriptions. When that isn't sufficient, you can opt out.

      It's strange that folks think the 30% won't be passed on to the consumer one way or another (if not by price, via ads or decreases in real content). So in some sense you're paying 20% more so that you don't have to uncheck a "share my email" box.

    23. Re:Who the customer is... by Celarent+Darii · · Score: 2

      Advertisers want facts to support the venue they are investing in. They want customers of a certain criteria, age group for example, or of related interests.

      Google makes money by selling this data to the advertisers, either directly or indirectly by refining their ad algorithm according to this data.

      In fact the only way Google makes money is by harvesting every bit of data they can find and attaching it to a certain product. It is what marketing and advertisers dream about, as knowledge about your customer is directly proportional to sales and profits.

      If you think about it, the only true product that Google has is information about you, the person who uses their services. That is why everything is pretty much free as the only thing that has value to them is the information. Apple on the other hand is a completely different beast, it actually makes physical things that need to be produced and manufactured.

    24. Re:Who the customer is... by Celarent+Darii · · Score: 1

      Google checkout uses your google email address. How is that anonymized?

    25. Re:Who the customer is... by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      Yes you do, you just don't own the App Store or the servers it runs on. They belong to Apple.

      As far as the hardware in your hand, that's yours once you've bought it.

    26. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's not a 20% difference, it's a 300% difference, apple charges 3 times as much as google, conversely google charges one third as much as apple.

      if the cost is passed on to the customer then its a 20% increase in price for the consumer.

    27. Re:Who the customer is... by Antisyzygy · · Score: 1

      No you don't. Subscription content does not go through their servers. It goes through a connection you pay for separately, onto a device you paid for. Apple has absolutely nothing to do with subscription content, only hosting the app itself until it is downloaded onto your phone. It would be more sensible of Apple to charge hosting fees for the Subscription apps, not 30 percent of subscription sales. That is a greedy, dick thing to do and frankly they don't give a shit about their app developers because one more sucker is already waiting to take their place and everyone is obsessed with Apple products these days.

      --
      That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".
    28. Re:Who the customer is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I disagree about the ZIP code. In some cases, merchants are legally obligated to determine if sales/use tax needs to be charged.

      Google has also never given away my email address when purchasing through Google Checkout; I always have the option to use an "anonymized" address. Wonder whether it's accurate that One Pass would be any different...

    29. Re:Who the customer is... by radl33t · · Score: 1

      The world is scary. I suggest you stay within that walled garden over there.

    30. Re:Who the customer is... by heathen_01 · · Score: 1

      My heart bleeds for the poor publisher. They could do all that you ask for without my personal details.

    31. Re:Who the customer is... by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      Who's talking about subscriptions (that do go through Apple's servers if you buy via the in-app system)? We're talking about the hardware, which you claim "you do not own" because of the way Apple chooses to manage its own servers and storefronts, that your hardware has access to.

      It wouldn't matter if Apple charged for subscription content in magic beans, it would not change the fact that you own the hardware that you purchased. Whether you can access servers that belong to Apple and buy things from them in a store owned by Apple is a different matter.

    32. Re:Who the customer is... by Antisyzygy · · Score: 1

      Subscriptions DO NOT go through Apple servers. The application that downloads subscription content does come from the App store. The subscription content itself is located on the servers of whatever company you subscribe to. For example, a New York Times app downloads the News/Images from New York Times servers via your connection you pay for. Apple is basically trying to get a chunk of subscription sales when they have no part in delivering the data other than the one time you actually download the application which retrieves information from elsewhere on the internet.

      --
      That brings me to an interesting point, / . is just "the ramblings of socially-inept, technology-literate news-mongers".
    33. Re:Who the customer is... by jo_ham · · Score: 1

      This is changing - apps like that one are now required to offer both options, with the in-app option going via Apple's servers and them taking a cut. Either way, you still own your own hardware.

  19. Re:Fight! by peragrin · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Actually apple isn't.

    Apple will not disclose what you buy and are reading to publishers. it is why publishers are all pissed off.

    Google will not only tell the publishers what you are doing but also sell that to their own ad services, so you find ads for your favorite fetish porn while reading books to your kids.

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
  20. Amen by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    I guess being next door to US, Canada doesn't count as a worthy place to have Checkout available to merchants but they sure don't tell you that till you sing up and then get shafted.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
    1. Re:Amen by Reapman · · Score: 2

      Eh? I have a merchant account with Google and I'm in Canada.... Granted I'm talking Android, maybe your refering to something else..

    2. Re:Amen by citizenr · · Score: 1

      You can pay, you cant sell

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    3. Re:Amen by Reapman · · Score: 1

      Well, I sell Apps on the Android Market...

    4. Re:Amen by Lehk228 · · Score: 2

      links in slashdot comments don't help page rank, fool. also nobody wants your chinese made garbage

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    5. Re:Amen by jrumney · · Score: 2

      Actually its the other way around. More countries are able to sell apps on the Android Market than are able to buy them.

    6. Re:Amen by jrumney · · Score: 1

      After checking the current status, it has improved somewhat. Paid apps are available now in 32 countries, and can be sold by developers from 29 countries (Czech, India and Poland can buy but can't sell, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Mexico, Russia, South Korea and Taiwan can only sell Ad-Words supported apps).

  21. Re:Fight! by dingo8baby · · Score: 3, Funny

    If it wasn't for the fetish porn, i wouldn't have kids to begin with.

  22. Re:Fight! by commodore6502 · · Score: 1

    >>>Google Vs. Apple, FIGHT!

    Apple creates Safari.
    Google strikes-back with Chrome for with below 50 MB memory usage.

    Apple release new iMac for $500!
    Google releases PC for $100.
    FATALITY.
    Google wins.

    --
    Information wants to be expensive AND wants to be free. So you have Value vs. Cheap distribution fighting each other.
  23. Credit card comparison by ApharmdB · · Score: 1

    Who would have ever thought that the 1-3% service fee that credit cards take from retail & other transactions could be considered small? Kudos to Google & Apple for managing to make Visa & Mastercard look good.

    1. Re:Credit card comparison by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, the closer comparison (Google Checkout) takes a maximum of 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction (less with sufficient volume), which is pretty much in line with the credit card service fees.

    2. Re:Credit card comparison by Aquitaine · · Score: 1

      It's more like 2-4% these days, and that's apples to oranges. You aren't making your purchase because you found something on Visa or Mastercard's web site. Visa and Mastercard didn't build the mall you were shopping in when you found the product. Apple and Google are selling marketplaces - not just handling the financial processing.

    3. Re:Credit card comparison by robogun · · Score: 1

      Google and some would argue Apple are providing marketplaces - a single go-to point for files for specific devices.

      A better comparo might be Ebay, which rapes its sellers for an average of 25%, once listing fees, closing fees, monthly Store subscriptions, and mandatory Paypal fees are accounted for.

    4. Re:Credit card comparison by dakameleon · · Score: 1

      It's still under 2% for most retailers, other than Amex which charges 3% internationally.

      As to the Mall analogy, I could stomach that logic if the iPad sold at a price below cost, or provided some ongoing service for free. I've already paid Apple for the device; I've already paid my ISP for the internet service over which the content will be downloaded. I may have already paid for the app - why does Apple get a slice of the content price when they're not hosting the content, just providing a one-click gateway to processing my payment? It's as though Paypal suddenly charged a 30% fee for all transactions. You don't just "visit" your device for content - there's a quaint notion of owning it that used to be primary.

      --
      Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
  24. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apple has buffered me from bad experiences on their store.
    I've never had to deal with Paypal directly because Apple runs their store well.

  25. Re:Fight! by commodore6502 · · Score: 1

    Paypal USED to have a bad experience, until they were sued by the US DOJ and a bunch of states. They've improved a lot - if the package gets lost, or not as advertised, you can get your money back via filing a paypal dispute.

    --
    Information wants to be expensive AND wants to be free. So you have Value vs. Cheap distribution fighting each other.
  26. Google becoming less relevent by fermion · · Score: 1
    Google did a good search engine. Even more important Google understood that it had to provide good service so that people who knew better would allow Google to set a cookie on the computer for the ad side of the business. The ad side of Google is about as ethical of 2o7, so without the search the ad business would be worth much less.

    But search is not going so well. JC Penny hacked Google for months before the NY Times called them on it, and now it is unclear if Google will or can do anything about it. JC Penny did nothing illegal. Given the current state of technology, Google no longer has a relevant search engine. It is too easily hacked. Often the top searches are ad farms that auto generate random phrases to match a search. I am more and more going to known good locations for answers. It reminds me of then the web got too big for Yahoo to hand pick sites or too popular for key words to be a honest proxy for Alta Vista to index. Google can whine that what JC Penny did was unfair, but whining is not going to fix search. Maybe MS will fix search, and Google will see ad revenue drop.

    And what is my point? Instead of innovating search, Google is copying what everyone else is doing. Now, Docs might be good enough to allow Google to dominate ads, but I can see the day coming when I am going to turn off the Google cookie. Certainly checkout is not valuable enough to trade personal information. Google should fix search and not just complain that others are doing perfectly reasonable thing to maximize their profile. Link farms are not the evil. Bad Google algorithms are. And as long as Google plays me too, they will not be in the forefront. If we think this cannot happen, look at Nokia.

    --
    "She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
    1. Re:Google becoming less relevent by JonySuede · · Score: 1

      I think that you offended a google fan with mod point...

      --
      Jehovah be praised, Oracle was not selected
    2. Re:Google becoming less relevent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey look. It's another one of Bonch's shill alts.

    3. Re:Google becoming less relevent by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Yeah, except with almost everything Google was the leader, or they did it better.

      This search thing with JCPenny? it has been fixed..

      And link farms are wrong. However why you even begin to think Google wont' fix it is beyond me. They have had issues like this before, and fixed them. There history is very solid,. Could that change? certainly, but there is no evidence of that happening at this time.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  27. Too much stuff associated with one identity... by eepok · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I really like google, but I don't like the idea of associating SO much with my online google identity. I've still not "linked" my youtube and gmail accounts. I have a Google Checkout account, but only because I trust them more than I other companies like Buy.com and don't want to bother creating a Buy.com account.

    The part that strikes conflict in me is having entertainment and education video associated with my google account. That alone is enough to extrapolate any political leanings, sexual preference, likely circle of friends, etc...

    Summary of realms I keep separate online:
    Gaming
    Video Entertainment
    Buying Habits
    Career/Work
    Tech Communities
    Humor Communities

    I would really prefer to keep all that separate and Google's not making it easy.

    1. Re:Too much stuff associated with one identity... by Qwavel · · Score: 1

      Personally I like having so much of my data with a single company - it makes it easier to keep an eye on.

      With Google, I know that they will use it to advertise to me, but they won't sell it or leak it. If that changes I will hear about it.

      If that data were spread amongst ten companies there would be no way I could keep track of it and feel comfortable that it wasn't be sold or spilled.

    2. Re:Too much stuff associated with one identity... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      It doesn't matter.

      If you are going to do something online, then use Google.
      The difference between something being 'easy' for them and 'hard' is about 2 minutes

      All you shit can be link together be experts. So why make it hard on yourself?

      The only way there are truly separate is you only do each one from a different computer, in a different location and never use the same data. like CC, or paypal.
      So, it's not really practical.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Too much stuff associated with one identity... by gox · · Score: 2

      +1

      Having my e-mail account linked to some video sharing web-site or even social networking is not a big deal. I can create unlinked new accounts anytime I like and inform whomever I need to keep in touch with. I change my accounts all the time when I feel uncomfortable with the provider or the identity itself. But having some personal property associated with my on-line identity is like an anchor. I hope that they implement it in a way that you can disassociate identities, at least the data linked to those identities if need be. I like being able to redirect my main e-mail address to a GMail account and using it as a data store. Yes it's easy to trace but I at least know that I can opt-out without suffering much. This new thing looks as if I would have to close all my "other" Google accounts if I really need to distance myself from one of the associated identities.

    4. Re:Too much stuff associated with one identity... by vlueboy · · Score: 1

      I'm not so sure about choosing to defy a single huge bully rather than many wimpy ones. At least with each little advertiser, one has your name, but not your birthday, or location, or preference in pr0n search terms. Google* being your "single point of failure" is very dangerous dangerous when the failure involves ALL your data at once.

      Big bully means "Google" or Apple, or even our wife --all are bad but well-informed single points of failure. The point is that anyone that has enough confidential information can ruin you, and your "I will hear about it" only works out well if the transgression you "hear" about it is slow enough that you can jump ship without being affected, and obvious enough to be discovered and stopped. Think of how ineffective it is to "recover" by suing a person that already destroyed your liver prescribing the wrong medicine for years, or negligently crushed your spine with their car without your getting an advance permission slip in the mail :)

    5. Re:Too much stuff associated with one identity... by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2

      If you are going to do something online, then use Google.
      The difference between something being 'easy' for them and 'hard' is about 2 minutes

      All you shit can be link together be experts. So why make it hard on yourself?

      You are thinking about it in the wrong direction. The risk isn't to any specific individual, it is to society in general. Sure, anyone can target an individual that they have already decided to investigate. But what they can't do - without the aid of centralised databases - is trawl for people who fit a certain criteria.

      For example, look at Sony's attempt to subpoena youtube's records of everybody who merely watched a PS3 cracking video. If Sony gets that subpoena, then they will get lots of information about people who have handed over all of their data to google. But for everyone else, at worst Sony is going to get an IP address and a timestamp. Fucking with the first group of people will be significantly easier for Sony than fucking with the second group of people. Not impossible, obviously, but significantly more effort per individual than the first group.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    6. Re:Too much stuff associated with one identity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think those are really separate realms? I bet google has sufficient information to link all your realms.

  28. Re:Fight! by snookerhog · · Score: 1

    well played

  29. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Another clueless idiot. AdWords works because GOOGLE does the selecting. Unless you CLICK THE FUCKING AD then the advertiser doesn't get any click information. Knowing Google, this will be the same. Knowing Apple, their databases will be hacked to leak everyone's data.

  30. [sigh] by Space+cowboy · · Score: 1, Troll

    Yes, yes, it's obvious that the old-fashioned way was just as egregious. That's not really the point.

    Let me try and put it using a different allegory...

    In olden-days, in order to subscribe to XYZ weekly, you had to present your backside to the publisher, who took a run-up, and then kicked your arse as hard as he could with his hob-nail boots. You'd go flying through the air to land in the cold, wet slush outside Ye Olde Publisher Shoppe. Dripping wet, soaked to the skin, you'd go home and nurse yourself through the resultant pneumonia whilst reading your periodical.

    On Googleworld, this still applies, even for virtual periodicals. You still get the whopping big kick up the arse, and you can then read your periodical.

    On Appleworld, you get to choose whether the publisher kicks you up the arse. Some people will choose 'Yes, please. Kick me up the arse', presumably for some suitable trade-off in kind. Most people will not.

    Just because it was always thus is no justification for it to remain so. Apple are looking after the customer here; Google are selling the customer out to the publisher in the name of Mammon (as well as using the personal details themselves, of course).

    Simon

    --
    Physicists get Hadrons!
    1. Re:[sigh] by LordLucless · · Score: 1

      No, on Appleworld, you get to pick whether Apple kicks you up the arse, or the publisher does. Either way, you get an arse-kicking. Apple just uses immaculately tailored boots instead of the publishers old hobnails.

      --
      Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
    2. Re:[sigh] by Space+cowboy · · Score: 2

      Well, if you're going to bring in the retailer (to somewhat strain the analogy), you get to choose between:

      AppleWorld: Apple kick you up the arse.

      GoogleWorld: Both Google and the publisher kick you up the arse.

      Google's kick is an especially hard one (they've been watching mythbusters, and have a specially-designed hydraulic arse-kicking machine) because of how far and wide they track you.Both Apple and the publisher are relatively small-potatoes compared to the stratosphere-reaching implications of being kicked up the arse by Google.

      Simon.

      --
      Physicists get Hadrons!
  31. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually they are. Need I remind you about the fact that they're spying on people's GPS/cell tower locations, despite the app requesting the location has nothing to do with APL? Oh, and if you use one of their devices, you've already agreed to share it with them "and their partners"?

  32. Re:Fight! by thestudio_bob · · Score: 2

    Google is willing to give away customer data. Apple is not.

    As a consumer, I'll take the Apple road.

    --
    The real Sig captains the Northwestern. This one captains /.
  33. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  34. This is BS.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All this crap about companies starting to charge just to distribute the content is going to bite them in the ass. What this is going to do is drive news content to be distributed freely as part of a twitter aggregator app that will scrape the data and present the news in a customized version for the end user. Screw Apple, Screw Google, Screws Newscorp and anyone else that tries to impose this scalping model. Really, you're not as important as you think you are.. And everyone may just discover that some day soon....

  35. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If Google did sell data, they'd be unofficially dead tomorrow. So much industry attention is on them, waiting for Google to stumble, that we'd never hear the end of it over the next 2 years; and the government would wage a competitor-driven war against Google.

    But if Bing was caught selling user data, then little focus would be given to it.

    I used to be annoyed at the hypocricy. Now I just don't care what happens. Business is never fair or just.

  36. Re:Fight! by __aatirs3925 · · Score: 1

    Actually, the advertiser gets demographic information including the amount of times your advert was viewed. But these are just numbers and aren't associated to anyone specifically. If you saw an ad that I made, I wouldn't be able to tell it was you. You would be one out of millions without even an IP associated to any of it. People are listed only around regions but it's so you can better decide to who you want to advertise to. If you're getting a CTR that yields a higher return in Florida than in Arkansas, then you'll want to focus your money in Florida instead.

    Then you have those who actually places the ads on their website. They have access to all the information they need about their current visitors with a general idea on who's coming by so they can properly place advertisements around the site depending strictly on demographics. If your website is about technology gear, then you'll want to target ads for girls if you're in a girl-centric category, same goes for guys. At the end of the day, it benefits both the visitor and the companies involved because without advertising (that works), there wouldn't be many free sites on the net. The lack of -some- privacy, even though it's completely anonymous, is a small price to pay for a generally open internet.

  37. Re:Fight! by geekoid · · Score: 1

    You have no evidence of that, and you use a strawman. SO, in short, you suck.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  38. Continental OnePass by KPU · · Score: 1

    Great, now I can spend my Continental OnePass miles to buy content.

  39. Largest market by tepples · · Score: 1

    It is smarter for Google to start with US and get the system working within the largest market

    "Largest market" has more than one meaning. The People's Republic of China has more population than the USA, as does India. The 27 states of the European Union also have more population than the 50 states of the USA.

    1. Re:Largest market by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The 27 states of the European Union are either countries with different laws, or in the case of the UK, 3 different sets of laws, so at least 29 jurisdictions.

    2. Re:Largest market by tepples · · Score: 1

      The 27 states of the European Union are either countries with different laws

      The 50 states of the United States of America are states with different laws. I'd compare the current organization of the European Union to that of the united States of America* for their first decade, when they operated under the Articles of Confederation. I'm pretty sure the EU will go down the same path fairly soon, with member states ceding more sovereignty over commerce among the several states to the EU in the next round of treaties after Lisbon.

      * small-u united = confederation, 1776-1788; big-U United = federal republic, 1789-

    3. Re:Largest market by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, I would think one meaning of Largest Market for an online payment system that is most likely to be used is the market that spends the most money online

    4. Re:Largest market by Dahamma · · Score: 1

      The difference is for some reason people in the US tend to pay for content these days rather than pirate it, which makes it a hell of a lot more *valuable* market...

  40. One Pass to rule them all.. by gmuslera · · Score: 1

    But beware, if you use it The Eye of Sergey will be fixed on you.

  41. Re:Fight! by pasamio · · Score: 2

    Apple steals "KHTML" from KDE and calls it "Safari"
    Apple releases their browser code and calls it "WebKit"
    Google takes "WebKit" and calls it "Chrome"

    Wait what?

    --
    I always wondered where this setting was...
  42. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And Chromium is infinitely better than that abortion called Safari. Rendering engines aren't everything.

  43. That's one "pass"? right? Not one "click"? by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

    Just want to be sure no patents are being infringed here...

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  44. Again Google? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A day late and a dollar short. Google cries "me too, me too" once again. For once I would like to start seeing Google bring the innovations to the world rather then following in kind. They have the knowledge, manpower and money to create some very good things, and while they make things better for the most part, its hard to put a finger on what Google has really done that is "new". Late to the browser game, late to social networking, late to the OS game, wasn't the first web search, wasn't the first to bring ads, wasn't the first to make a phone OS, wasn't the first to offer online email services, wasn't the first to bring the Cloud to the world.... this list goes on.

    I think Google needs take the "beta" sticker off the company and make something unexpected and new for a change.

    1. Re:Again Google? by Stuntmonkey · · Score: 1

      A day late and a dollar short.

      Clearly both Google's and Apple's programs have been in development for a long time, and from a practical standpoint are entering the market simultaneously. It's not clear that either is copying the other.

      With regard to your broader point, the goal of any company isn't to "innovate" shiny new things. It's to solve real problems and make peoples' lives better. Every company, Apple and Google included, borrows heavily from others where it makes sense: Google didn't invent the search engine, and Apple didn't invent the GUI or the smartphone or the tablet computer. However both companies deliver products that are useful to me, and that's what I care about.

      In this case the two competitors have quite different pricing structures and product visions, so as with iOS vs. Android it will be interesting to see how the marketplace responds.

  45. This is bullshit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google by default send your name, zip-code, email address to the publisher.

    Do you want to give us a cite for this horse shit?

  46. Net Neutrality My #$$ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google is a company that backs net neutrality. And then it goes and levies a gatekeeping charge on top of content? Man, I don't like the telco's imposing their will any more than anybody, but when shenanigans like this are the norm, no wonder the telco's want to get more money for desirable content. I think this basically should remove any illusions about net neutrality. As difficult as it may be to make it succeed, I think FreedomBox is our best hope.

  47. say your buyng 2600 mag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From you local bookstore/ with cash....

    Maybe you want to remain anonymous..

  48. Re:Fight! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bullshit. It was the EULA that said that they *may* do this, by which they mean that when you allow an app to use your GPS, they can see where you are.

  49. Re:Fight! by CrackedButter · · Score: 1

    Ate you deluded? Apple gives back code to the community. How can they steal KHTML?

  50. Re:Fight! by bluemonq · · Score: 1

    The problem is now they seem to usually err on the side of the buyer, leading to sellers getting ripped off.

  51. here here is nice by lemonade0725 · · Score: 0

    Geldof, who was the face of Miss Ultimo, is going to be removed from all shops and window displays of the lingerie brand. The news comes after Peaches caused widespread controversy when lewd pictures, taken during what was alleged to have been a heroin-fuelled one-night stand last November, were published on the internet. The drugs claims have been strenuously denied by Peaches' lawyers. http://lingeriebras.net/ http://lingeriebras.org/ http://lingeriescorset.net/ http://lingeriescorset.org/ http://sexylingeriecorset.org/ http://sexylingeriecorset.net/ In a statement, a spokeswoman for Miss Ultimo lingerie said: "We have been in meetings all morning with regards to the stories that have surfaced over the weekend about Peaches and unfortunately we have no option but to terminate her contract. "Miss Ultimo is a brand geared towards a young female audience and as a company we have a social responsibility to ensure we are promoting only positive role models that young women can aspire to. "We are thus in the process of removing Peaches from the website and we are working with Debenhams to remove her visuals from all Miss Ultimo shops and window displays throughout the UK."

  52. Not payment, DRM. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Google Checkout? You mean the payment system...?"

    No, they mean DRM.