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Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

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Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shouldn't the developer have known this through reading the rules of the store BEFORE he/she developer the app? If you can't be bothered to do due diligence before making such a big business decision you aren't equipped to run a business.

As the article pointed out, Google currently features a free app that offers IAP using PayPal. Perhaps the developer did do their due dilligence and saw that Google is (supposedly) OK with it.

>> "What was most confusing to me is that a similar buying process"

He mentions it's a 'similar' process. Maybe there is a crucial difference in the way they are handling things. Hard to tell though as he doesn't mention what the other app is. Still my point stands. If you are breaking a rule because someone else has got away with it you are taking a big risk.

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, you're fucking not working hard, you added the last ones a year and a half ago. I'm not even a Google fanboy, but what do you know about the challenges that Google might be facing? It's a really strong accusation to say that a company is not working hard just because you can't have exactly what you want. Last I checked, neither Google nor Apple make guarantees about how much of a living a developer is going to…

To be fair, the developer did do the dirty work themselves - They implemented their own payment method using PayPal and then got banned for it.

I was more thinking along the lines of making a web app instead of a native app; IMO Google's implication is that, if you're not doing business in one of the supported countries, you're not allowed to conduct commercial transactions through your app. I'm guessing that this is more a legal issue than anything else (not to mention the developer getting around the kickback Google should be getting); I can imagine it sucking for Google to have accounts frozen because some auditor found out that Google was indirectly doing business in an unauthorized country. There could be tax issues, compliance issues, issues with trade agreements -- there are a TON of things to think about.

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, the developer did do the dirty work themselves - They implemented their own payment method using PayPal and then got banned for it.

I was more thinking along the lines of making a web app instead of a native app; IMO Google's implication is that, if you're not doing business in one of the supported countries, you're not allowed to conduct commercial transactions through your app. I'm guessing that this is more a legal issue than anything else (not to mention the developer getting around the kickback Google should be getting); I can imagine it suc…

Each one of those ton of things have been solved by Apple, Samsung and BlackBerry in many of the countries Google doesn't support. They can copy what any one of these 3 did if they really wanted to help developers.

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, you're fucking not working hard, you added the last ones a year and a half ago. I'm not even a Google fanboy, but what do you know about the challenges that Google might be facing? It's a really strong accusation to say that a company is not working hard just because you can't have exactly what you want. Last I checked, neither Google nor Apple make guarantees about how much of a living a developer is going to…

> I'm not even a Google fanboy, but what do you know about the challenges that Google might be facing? It's a really strong accusation to say that a company is not working hard just because you can't have exactly what you want. This argument works only because companies like Google prefer no communication with their user/developer base. If they took the time and posted a short note explaining which challenges Google…

I think it's time we stopped defending silent companies by hypothesizing scenarios where they are hard-working but can't tell us.

perfect

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app in question was using Paypal. Right or wrong, there is no way Google is going to let developers use Paypal instead of their own Google billing, for which they keep 30%.

Unless they've recently renegotiated, Google only gets 5% and the other 25% goes to the carrier. I'm not sure why the carriers in the counties where Play doesn't support payments haven't been able to get Google to implement support though.

That sounds very suspicious. Do you have a source for this? Remember that you don't even need a carrier to be able to use the app store. Who takes the 25% from the payments done from my wlan-only tablet?

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#76
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app in question was using Paypal. Right or wrong, there is no way Google is going to let developers use Paypal instead of their own Google billing, for which they keep 30%.

I wonder why they allow skype? As far as I know skype use their own billing for credit. This isn't a physical product, so I can't see why this shouldn't be disallowed by the terms of service.

In a negotiation if one party is prepared to walk away and take a huge loss and the other is not, the party that is prepared to walk away will win the negotiations. Apple historically has been willing to cut into their own flesh to get big developers to obey the rules (if you will remember the amazon kindle in-app purchasing debacle). They would be willing to ban an app like Skype to make them comply. Google and microsoft have less resolve, they're not willing to ban a "must have" app for TOS violations, so that implicitly means those apps can ignore the TOS.

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure about that? Are the debit cards issued by Visa or Mastercard? Where I'm (EU), both Apple and Google do accept debit cards.

Where I am (EU) Google does not, last time I checked. Debit Card from Visa or Mastercard? Why.. would you do that? The debit card I know (and I assume that's what the GP talks about) is from your bank. Works fine everywhere in the EU, breaks for crappy online services/US centric payment solutions. Heck, Paypal uses my account just fine and doesn't require a CC.

Google accepts my UK debit card, and I've never had problems using it online.

> Debit Card from Visa or Mastercard? Why.. would you do that?

What do you mean? The bank-issued debit cards you are talking about may also be Visa or Mastercard debit cards.

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, you're fucking not working hard, you added the last ones a year and a half ago. I'm not even a Google fanboy, but what do you know about the challenges that Google might be facing? It's a really strong accusation to say that a company is not working hard just because you can't have exactly what you want. Last I checked, neither Google nor Apple make guarantees about how much of a living a developer is going to…

I can assume what challenges Google is facing based on how successful other companies in the space are in providing the same service, namely Microsoft and Apple. Google: 32 countries Apple: 90 countries (probably more now, info from 2012) Microsoft: 127 countries Yes, Microsoft and Apple had a head start, but the difference is just way too big, and Google hasn't moved that number in a year and a half. I don't want Go…

Do you think that's good for users though? Especially with Google's lax oversight of the marketplace? If the developer using their own payment method changed their PayPal redirect to a phishing site, would users notice? What if you implemented your own credit card payment? Where's the guarantee that you're PCI compliant? I can tell you that 99% of your users won't know what PCI compliance is. If Google allows users to become accustomed to entering their credit card info to each individual app, there could be major liability issues that I'm sure Google doesn't want to deal with.

Re: Google permanently bans popular application from Play for not using IAP

#80
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The app in question was using Paypal. Right or wrong, there is no way Google is going to let developers use Paypal instead of their own Google billing, for which they keep 30%.

I wonder why they allow skype? As far as I know skype use their own billing for credit. This isn't a physical product, so I can't see why this shouldn't be disallowed by the terms of service.

If Skype sold credits in-app they would have to follow the same rules.
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