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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

#101

Post by nopakos »

napoleoncomplex wrote: post #12

I know Google's policy on this, but I completely understand where the developer is coming from. Google has been taking a collective shit on every developer out of its list of seller countries[0], which is ridiculously short and hasn't been expanded in god knows how long, and even then, there were only a handful of countries added. On Google's page about seller countries they say: "We're working hard to add more count…

It's not a coincidence that so many apps are iOS only. For example (I guess that) the recent success app Horizon is iOS only because the developers cannot sell from Greece through the Play store. The same happens for many apps from many countries.

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

#102

Post by babuskov »

neals wrote: post #78

So to be clear, you are not allowed any form of payment except Google own payment method? Is that how it is? Or is a developer allowed to combine Google's payment method with Bitcoin, Paypal etc. ?

You are not allowed any other form of payment for apps in the Play Store. The issue here is that the developer cannot create a Google merchant account from his country, so basically he has to give away stuff for free or leave the Android development. Or start a company in the US.

Another issue is that Google has worked out payments worldwide for say AdSense, but for some unknown reason this cannot be applied to Android market.

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

#103

Post by xanderdimitrov »

nicholassmith wrote: post #59

At least when you deal with Apple they don't dress it up, they make it abundantly clear that they'll shaft you if you try and step around the rules, Google danced around it with the rally cry of 'open!' a lot more.

Google was fine for some time, but their recent (last 2-3 years?) actions and policy have left me completely stunned. Maybe has to do with the influence they have on the Web but it's infuriating to see a self-proclaimed innovation giant to make efforts in drowning the business.

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

#104

Post by darklajid »

nknighthb wrote: post #86
darklajid wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Credit cards" are also issued by banks. Visa and Mastercard are just brands and payment networks, not financial institutions themselves. For a long time now (better part of 20 years?) US banks have commonly issued debit cards that can also be used as if they were Visa- or Mastercard-branded credit cards. They come out of the same number space and have little Visa or Mastercard logos on them. The transactions pass th…

Thanks for the explanation.

The debit cards I know list your account number (local to the bank) and certainly doesn't follow the format of CC numbers. You can see a very real example on the Maestro page of Wikipedia [1]. I'm with a related bank, my card is very similar to that one.

Over here the debit card is usually called 'EC card' (see the logo on the image, plus [2]) and you can pay with it ~everywhere~ (stores, restaurants, parking spots - whereever you expect to pay with a card 90% of the time that's working with these. The 10% are crap, newish and .. want a cc).

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maestro_(debit_card) 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cash

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

#105

Post by hrjet »

napoleoncomplex wrote: post #12

I know Google's policy on this, but I completely understand where the developer is coming from. Google has been taking a collective shit on every developer out of its list of seller countries[0], which is ridiculously short and hasn't been expanded in god knows how long, and even then, there were only a handful of countries added. On Google's page about seller countries they say: "We're working hard to add more count…

I can understand your frustration. I am in a country from which you couldn't sell for a long time (but now can).

The thing that irked me was, when I signed up for an Android Market developer account there was no indication given to me that I won't be able to sell apps! I spent about two years developing an app and when it was time to publish the paid version, I discovered that I couldn't! That was one hell of a shocker! That was the first time I hated Google.

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

#107

Post by icebraining »

alkonaut wrote: post #49
arithma wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two version solution (free/premium) doesn't allow sharing ratings. Developers don't like that, because they want their free uptake to give higher rating to their premium option. Splitting the options up would make perfect sense if the two apps are grouped up in some way.

I can see that from the developers' perspective the two app solution is bad (also from a maintenance perspective etc.) For users it's also bad because if upgrading is switching you are likely to lose the data (settings, game progress), but since I'd rather do that it feels like the freemium thing must be horribly broken.

The two app solution doesn't require losing data. I don't know how they do it, but plenty of Android apps have a paid version that only "unlocks" the paid capabilities of the free version. That way, you clearly see in the Store that it has a free and paid version, but you don't lose anything when upgrading.

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

#108

Post by jamespo »

rmrfrmrf wrote: post #79
napoleoncomplex wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

On that basis maybe Google should stop Chrome allowing credit card form submissions.

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

#109

Post by darklajid »

rmrfrmrf wrote: post #79
napoleoncomplex wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

Reeaally?

So, is Chrome now filtering the internet to catch you entering your CC number to some vague service online? Because that's what we're talking about. Shopping (for an in app purchase, but still) online, in a browser. I wonder how Google checked if Amazon is PCI compliant..

If you're entering your CC everywhere that's not something Google can (or should - no need for a nanny..) fix. There's no way in my world that Google _could_ be liable for these kind of things.

You're trying to understand their motivation for banning alternative payment methods. We both have a theory. Mine is 'greed', yours is 'protecting the user and protecting the company against evil worldwide'.

I really think you're giving them too much credit here.

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

#110

Post by al2o3cr »

alkonaut wrote: post #16

I feel it's an obvious problem that apps that allow IAP are listed as free. Has google or apple fixed this yet? When browsing for apps there you may see a top app being free and another costing $1. You pick the "free" one and it turns out it is useless without an IAP whereas the $1 app perhaps would not. It turns out the free app costs $2 in order to function as well as the $1 app. The consumer friendly thing to do w…

"You pick the "free" one and it turns out it is useless without an IAP whereas the $1 app perhaps would not. It turns out the free app costs $2 in order to function as well as the $1 app."

So uninstall it and shell out the $1 for the other one. FFS, why is this hard?

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