Google Jumps On Micropayments

  • Google targets content providers
  • Buy web articles using Google Wallet
  • Not happy with your purchase? Get an instant refund

Google has gone into micropayments with the launch of a new service that allows users to buy individual web articles from AU$0.24 to AU$0.94 each.

  • Google targets content providers
  • Buy web articles using Google Wallet
  • Not happy with your purchase? Get an instant refund

Google has gone into micropayments with the launch of a new service that allows users to buy individual web articles from AU$0.24 to AU$0.94 each.

The service, which was launched Tuesday, uses Google's existing digital wallet service, Google Wallet. The existing service stores credit card info and loyalty cards for users to shop with on or offline.

Content providers and publishers can give readers a preview of an article. The rest of the article will be shown when users press the Google Wallet button to unlock the rest of the content.

The service is quite easy to integrate into whatever system publishers are using. All they have to do is install a code on their servers to enable Google Wallet.

Initial Google partners include, Pearson and Oxford University Press, which will both post 80,000 total reference articles for purchase. Google's also working with DK Publishing and technical book publisher Peachpit.

In addition, a convenient refund system is also in place. Users are able to get an "instant refund" within 30 minutes of the buy.

Google first got into the trade of purely digital goods in Digital Gaming. Google Wallet is used to help gamers buy digital items in the virtual world. There isn’t any instant refund functionality for this though.

"Users love free content, and so we expect that advertising will remain the most effective monetization model for most content on the Web," said Google.

"However we know that there is more great content that creators could bring to the Web if they had an effective way to sell individual articles that users can find with search."

Brought to you by CyberShack.com.au

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