Apple Races Google One Pass to Get Money for Subscriptions

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By Beth Pinsker, Editorial Director of dealnews

Apple and Google are racing for your wallet! Both companies just announced plans to collect subscription fees for web-based magazines, newspapers and other regular content, which will allow consumers to pay one price to view the material across many platforms — computers, phones, iPads or other tablets, eBook readers and whatever else comes into play in the near future.

Each model has its merits and faults — Google's One Pass plan allows publishers to set prices and allows consumers to access content with a single sign-on. With Apple's program, it takes a 30% cut of the fee for subscribers it brings in through its App Store. PayPal also has a new micropayment option that will compete for some of the action in this space.

Overall, it amounts to a sudden land grab for your money, walling off content that either previously was free or is newly enticing, like News Corp.'s The Daily, which is available only on the iPad. Content publishers have yet to develop a successful model for getting people to regularly pay for digital content. Is it finally the time? You decide:


Beth Pinsker is dealnews' Editorial Director. She was most recently the Editor of WalletPop.com and has been a life-long bargain hunter. Follow her on Twitter — @bethpinsker. You can also sign up for an email alert for all dealnews features.
DealNews may be compensated by companies mentioned in this article. Please note that, although prices sometimes fluctuate or expire unexpectedly, all products and deals mentioned in this feature were available at the lowest total price we could find at the time of publication (unless otherwise specified).

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