Google Competes With Apple On Subscription And In-App Purchasing

Publishers that were complaining about Apple's new in-app purchasing and subscription requirements may now have a better alternative. Google is reportedly starting today a new in-app purchasing system for its Android Market to compete with Apple.

Apple's new in-app purchasing model requires publishers of content-based apps to pay out a 30% cut on their subscription revenues that were received via in-app purchasing. Apple did compromise to allow publishers to direct customers to their own websites for purchasing subscriptions as long as an option was provided on that page to purchase through the App Store.

Google's plan is to introduce a similar in-app purchasing and subscription model but publishers would only pay a 10% cut. The music service, Rhapsody, has just slammed the new Apple model calling it "economically untenable," so it will be interesting to see how Google's offering will be received.

[Via TUAW]