Google unveils subscription service to counter Apple’s

SAN FRANCISCO — Google Inc.
announced a new subscription service Wednesday that is designed to
allow publishers to better control digital content across both websites
and mobile apps.

The news comes a day after a similar move by Apple Inc.,
which announced a subscription service for its mobile devices. That
plan has drawn the ire of some publishers and other companies because
of some limitations imposed by Apple and the 30 percent revenue cut the
company takes of content sold over apps on its devices.

Under the Google
plan, publishers will maintain control of their relationships with
subscribers and will be able to offer different sorts of deals to
subscribers through different channels.

The service from Apple requires that publishers make
the same or better deals available within their apps as those available
outside the app, such as those on the publisher’s own website.

Google also plans to take a revenue cut of 10 percent of content sold through the service, compared to Apple’s 30 percent cut.

The new service, called Google One Pass, will handle payments through the company’s Checkout service. Apps sold through Google’s Android mobile platform have had a more difficult time generating revenue because Google has lacked the same ubiquitous payment platform that Apple has through its massive iTunes store.

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