Publisher-friendly is good

Claire Cain Miller has an article about Google in The New York Times:

A day after Apple stirred up online publishers by announcing a digital subscription plan that some called too restrictive and financially burdensome, Google on Wednesday announced its own payment service for digital content that aims to be more publisher-friendly.
Google’s service, called Google One Pass, is a way for online publishers to sell digital content on the Web and through mobile applications using Google’s existing payment service, Google Checkout. Readers will be able to get access to that content on many devices using their Google email address and password.
“The overall goal is to bring publishers a simple way to charge for content they choose to charge for, and for readers to have simple access without any restrictions on which devices they use,” said Jeannie Hornung, a Google spokeswoman.
Google’s service seems to directly respond to some publishers’ concerns about Apple’s plan. “This is purely a shot across Apple’s bow at a critical point in time,” said James L. McQuivey, a digital media analyst at Forrester Research. “That’s what the industry wants right now, to know there is an alternative to Apple and someone willing to talk about a more reasonable rate.”
Under Apple’s plan, the company will keep thirty percent of any sale of digital content, like books, music, and magazines, within its App Store and will own the subscriber information, like names and email addresses. Users can choose to share that information with publishers if they want.
When publishers use One Pass, which for now is limited to online newspapers and magazines, Google will keep ten percent of the sale price and share the customer’s name, ZIP code, and email address unless the customer specifically asks Google not to. “We are allowing the publishers to transact directly with their customers,” Ms. Hornung said.
The move steps up the competition between Google and Apple over digital content and the devices people use to read, watch, and listen to it.
Phones running the Android software from Google have been adopted at a rapid clip, and now Android accounts for 25.8 percent of the smartphone market, just behind the iPhone operating system from Apple, with 28.6 percent, according to Nielsen. But iPhone and iPad users have been more likely to pay for apps and other content than Android users, and the Android app store was slower to thrive. Google has been trying to turn that around, most recently with a redesigned store and in-app subscriptions.
Google One Pass aims to offer a broad solution for online publishers grappling with how to charge readers. Google has not yet signed up any big-name United States publishers, but it has announced some large European partners like Axel Springer in Germany. It will allow publishers to avoid having to build their own payment or sign-in systems, and can identify readers logging in across various devices.
Unlike Apple’s service, Google’s is aimed more for use on websites than in apps, making it similar to services like Journalism Online’s Press+, which offers log-in and payments technology to online publishers. Ms. Hornung said publishers could use One Pass in an app only if the mobile operating system’s guidelines allowed it.
Publishers selling content within an app running on the Android operating system, for instance, would have to comply with Android’s revenue split, under which Google gets a thirty percent share. However, unlike Apple, Google allows publishers to avoid selling within the app and instead to send customers to a mobile web browser to make a purchase. There, the publishers can use Google One Pass and keep ninety percent of the revenue. Apple’s rules would not allow publishers to use One Pass in apps offered through its App Store.
Google’s payment system, which works across websites and mobile apps, is a boon for publishers that want a more comprehensive solution than Apple provides, said Joshua Benton, director of the Nieman Journalism Lab.
“If you’re a decent-sized American newspaper, the number of people who are Android users who are interested in buying a subscription to your publication is pretty small,” he said. “But along with that, you can also take care of the paid content on your website, which is something you’ve been fretting about for years.”
But Mr. McQuivey of Forrester said One Pass would be of little use to web publishers until Android is built into many more phones, tablets, and other devices, like televisions. “No publisher in their right mind would sign up to give away ten percent of web-based revenues,” he said.
Google suggested that publishers use One Pass to try with different models, like subscriptions, so-called metered access, and selling single articles. The service also lets publishers give free access to existing subscribers.
Bonnier, the magazine publisher, plans to sell annual subscriptions to the digital version of Popular Science for Android users, but will not charge for articles on its website. Readers’ top complaint about the digital magazine has been the inability to subscribe to it, said Sara Öhrvall, who leads research and development for Bonnier.
Rust Communications, which publishes fifty newspapers, plans to use One Pass to sell monthly subscriptions and single articles, along with metered access to several of its websites, under which visitors can read a certain number of free articles before being asked to pay. When the company begins selling content on mobile apps, it will most likely work with Apple as well, but not happily, said Jon K. Rust, co-president of Rust and publisher of The Southeast Missourian. “We’re not happy with the terms of the deal at this point,” he said of Apple’s payment plan.
For Google, befriending publishers may be the main point. “Google has been trying to convince the news business that Google’s on their side,” Mr. Benton said. “Apple has taken the opposite tack, which is: ‘You really need us, so we’re going to take the thirty percent.’”

Rico says lessee, you can give Apple thirty percent or Google ten percent... You do the math. (As if Steve Jobs needs the money...)