Google One-Upping Apple with One Pass?

Transcript by Newsy.

BY KELSEY WAANANEN

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO



You're watching multisource tech video news analysis from Newsy



A challenger appears. One day after Apple announced a subscription payment system for its apps, Google emerges with One Pass -- a subscription strategy for the web. Here's how Google describes it.

"One Pass makes it easy for everyone to get the quality journalism they value. It's a simple, flexible way for readers to access content from publishers who have decided to charge. Users only need one login to access news anywhere."

What this really means is Google is offering newspapers and magazines -- as well as other types of content in the future -- a uniform model for charging for content online, rather than each publisher building their own. What's more, Google is taking less of a cut -- 10% to Apple's 30%-- and it will work on the web as well as apps, while Apple is limited to just apps.


Search Engine Watch details how Google is giving publishers the power...

"... without the expense of a back-end system to manage [pricing]. Google will also be allowing publishers access to the names and email addresses of their customers ... as opposed to Apple's plan which looks at consumers as Apple customers, not the publishers'."

Google's strategy seems to be the answer to all of the questions raised by Apple's model -- and Wired says --- Google is offering publishers a pretty easy choice:

"...go with something that works for just the popular iPhone and iPad at a steep price ... or go with a system that works for the web and apps, regardless of what device a reader is using, at a much lower price (somewhere in the range of 10%)..."

But Nieman Journalism Lab's Joshua Benton doesn't see this as a fight between Apple and Google - the two are dealing in different worlds.

"Note that the focus is primarily on web access, not app access. (Note that the word 'Android' - Google's mobile platform - is mentioned nowhere.) ... At least for the moment, One Pass is more of a direct competitor to Journalism Online's Press+ than it is to Apple."

Finally, Fortune colors Google as the novice, while Apple is already a master of their field.

"The devil, however, will be in the details... [I]t will be interesting to see what kind of visual experience Google can provide. We've already seen beautiful periodicals built for Apple's iPad and Google is traditionally light on its graphic interface capabilities."

Google One Pass already has several German companies on board --Axel Springer AG, Germany's largest newspaper publisher, and Gruner + Jahr, a major magazine publisher. Google says that several others have stated they will follow suit.



'Like' Newsy on Facebook for daily updates.




Get more multisource tech video news analysis from Newsy.



Transcript by Newsy.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• google
• one pass
• google payment system
• subscription business model
• google subscription
• app subscription
• digital content
• app market
• apple subscription
• google response
• apple
• publishers
• in-app content
• media companies
• multisource
• tech news
• video news
• multisour