WebProNews

Category: SubscriptionEconomyPro

SubscriptionEconomyPro

  • Amazon Has a Prime Pharmacy Problem

    Amazon Has a Prime Pharmacy Problem

    Amazon may be trying to lure people to its Amazon Prime with prescription cost savings, but customers aren’t buying it.

    Amazon Prime is the company’s popular service that bundles free shipping and lower prices for members. The membership also comes with a variety of other services and features, but it seems that some of them are not very popular.

    According to Business Insider, Morgan Stanley conducted a survey to see what services mattered most to Amazon Prime users. The survey found the company’s prescription service ranks dead last among the reasons people subscribe to Prime. In fact, only 2% cited Prime Pharmacy as the reason for signing up.

    To put that in perspective, Prime Gaming, Echo/Alexa integration, and Amazon Fresh all ranked higher. The company chalked Prime Pharmacy’s lack of popularity up to its relative newness.

    “To compare a newer Prime benefit like the Prime prescription savings benefit, to one like Prime Video or two-day delivery, isn’t a true apples to apples comparison. The Prime prescription savings benefit is relatively new, and we are committed over the long term to making healthcare services easier and more affordable,” the spokesperson told Insider.

    Amazon has been aggressively moving into the healthcare industry, even rumored to be interested in Signify Health. Only time will tell if the company’s Prime Pharmacy eventually gains traction.

  • Want to Use Your BMW’s Heated Seats? That Will Cost $18 Per Month.

    Want to Use Your BMW’s Heated Seats? That Will Cost $18 Per Month.

    If you thought software subscriptions were a bad thing, wait until you buy your next BMW and have to pay $18 per month to use your heated seats.

    The software development industry helped popularize the subscription model. In theory, users are far more willing to pay a few dollars a month than a single large purchase. Evidently, not content with charging users tens of thousands of dollars for buying a car, many auto manufacturers are adopting the subscription approach, with BWM already proving to be the worst offender.

    According to The Verge, the automaker is charging a subscription for heated seats in the UK, Germany, New Zealand, and South Africa, although it remains to be seen when the change will make its way to the US and other countries. This isn’t the first such subscription feature, with the company transitioning several high-end features to a subscription model since 2020.

    As The Verge points out, the company is not exactly touting the change, given how much its customers have been condemning the practice. It’s one thing to charge a subscription for a feature that legitimately does require ongoing upkeep, such as navigation system updates, but it’s an entirely different thing to charge an ongoing fee to unlock hardware that is already built into the vehicle.

    With the cheapest BMW starting at nearly $40,000, and the most expensive model topping $135,000, it’s hard to see BMW’s plans as anything other than unmitigated greed and a desire to nickel and dime its customers for everything it can.

  • Google Has Deals With 300 News Publishers in the EU

    Google Has Deals With 300 News Publishers in the EU

    Google currently has deals with some 300 news publishers in the EU, with the company working to make it easier for other publishers to sign up.

    Google was opposed to paying publishers for years for linking to and displaying their news. The company maintained publishers benefited more than it did, thanks to the traffic Google sent their way. Needless to say, news publishers disputed this claim, blaming Google and other search engines for ruining the news industry. The EU recently forced Google’s hand, passing legislation that requires search engines to pay for the news content they display.

    The legislation appears to be paying off, with Google now paying 300 publishers in half a dozen countries for the right to use their news. What’s more, the company is rolling out new tools that will make it easier for new publishers to sign up with its program.

    “So far, we have agreements that cover more than 300 national, local and specialist news publications in Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland, with many more discussions ongoing,” writes Sulina Connal, Director, News and Publishing Partnerships.

    The company’s new tool, the Extended News Previews program (ENP), will begin rolling out in Germany and Hungary, and then to additional EU countries in the coming months.

  • Apple Calls Out ‘Meta’s Hypocrisy’ Over High Content Creator Fees

    Apple Calls Out ‘Meta’s Hypocrisy’ Over High Content Creator Fees

    Apple is calling out “Meta’s hypocrisy” after the latter announced it would charge a 47.5% commission for creating content in the metaverse.

    Apple has been under fire for some time for charging developers a 30% App Store commission. Despite criticizing Apple’s practices, Meta has revealed its own commission, far exceeding what Apple charges. The Cupertino company isn’t passing up the opportunity to call Meta out.

    “Meta has repeatedly taken aim at Apple for charging developers a 30% commission for in-app purchases in the App Store — and have used small businesses and creators as a scapegoat at every turn,” Apple spokesman Fred Sainz told MarketWatch. “Now — Meta seeks to charge those same creators significantly more than any other platform. [Meta’s] announcement lays bare Meta’s hypocrisy. It goes to show that while they seek to use Apple’s platform for free, they happily take from the creators and small businesses that use their own.”

    So far, the response to Meta’s announcement has been almost universally critical over the whopping commission rate. Apple has simply come out and said exactly what many were already thinking.

  • ‘Reader Apps’ On the App Store Can Now Include Alternate Payment Links

    ‘Reader Apps’ On the App Store Can Now Include Alternate Payment Links

    Developers of “reader apps,” such as Netflix, Spotify, and Kindle, can now include a link to alternative payment methods.

    Apple and Google have been under increasing pressure to open up their app ecosystems to outside payment options. Apple, in particular, has fought against such efforts aggressively, but has lost some of its battles, including against the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC). As part of its settlement with the JFTC, the company agreed to crack open its walled garden for reader apps, allowing them to include a link to alternate payment options.

    Apple has now implemented those changes, announcing the change on its Developer site.

    Last year, Apple announced an update coming to the App Store in early 2022 that would allow developers of “reader” apps to include an in-app link to their website for account creation and management purposes. Starting today, with the update of App Store Review guideline 3.1.3(a), developers of reader apps can now request access to the External Link Account Entitlement. This entitlement lets reader apps link to a website that is owned or maintained by the developer, so that users can create or manage their account outside of the app. Reader apps are apps that provide one or more of the following digital content types — magazines, newspapers, books, audio, music, or video — as the primary functionality of the app.

    Developers can learn more here.

  • YouTube Offering Top Podcasters $50K to Make the Jump to Video

    YouTube Offering Top Podcasters $50K to Make the Jump to Video

    YouTube is working to entice its top podcasters to make the jump to video, offering $50,000 to sweeten the deal.

    YouTube has been building its base of content subscribers, paying out $30 billion over the last three years. The company even shut down its YouTube Originals, thanks in no small part to having more than two million creators in the YouTube Partner Program.

    In its latest push, Ars Technica is reporting YouTube is offering some of its most popular podcasters $50,000 to switch to video. The money is aimed at helping these creators invest in the equipment they need to produce high-quality videos.

    While the company is offering $50,000 to individuals, some podcasting networks are receiving $200,000 to $300,000.

  • Airbnb: The Newest Way to Send Relief Aid to Ukrainians

    Airbnb: The Newest Way to Send Relief Aid to Ukrainians

    The tech industry has been caught in the war between Russian and Ukraine, but Airbnb is emerging as a platform for humanitarian aid.

    Many tech companies have been pulling their services and products from Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine, essentially imposing their own sanctions on the country. In the case of Airbnb, however, customers are making reservations in Ukraine despite having no plans of using them. The goal is merely to use Airbnb as a platform for sending money to those who may need it.

    According to Business Insider, one of the main motivations is concerns about charitable and humanitarian efforts that have been put in place. Many individuals are leery of such organizations, doubting whether their money will really make to those in need, or disappear into a quagmire of bureaucracy. With Airbnb, in contrast, a specified amount of the rental fee is guaranteed to make it to the intended recipient.

    “I see politics being played out and I understand why NATO cannot go in, but I feel very sad and heartbroken for the people … being slaughtered,” Yan Asmann, an associate professor at Mayo Clinic who booked three nights in Kiev, told Insider. “It’s very hard to watch day-by-day.”

    The innovative use of Airbnb is another demonstration of the democratizing effect tech platforms can have, even on something as basic as humanitarian aid.

  • YouTube Originals Shutting Down

    YouTube Originals Shutting Down

    YouTube is shuttering its YouTube Originals division, with lead Susanne Daniels expected to leave in March.

    YouTube Originals was the company’s foray into original content, began in 2016. Susanne Daniels headed up the division, and helped it create award-winning content.

    According to a tweet by Robert Kyncl, YouTube Chief Business Officer, YouTube Originals is shutting down.

    Today, there are over 2M creators in the YouTube Partner Program and our creator community has never been more successful: we’ve paid more than $30B to creators, artists, and media companies over the last three years.

    However, with rapid growth comes new opportunities and now our investments can make a greater impact on even more creators when applied towards other initiatives, like our Creator Shorts Fund, Black Voices Fund, and Live Shopping programming to name a few.

    Separately, Susanne has decided to leave YouTube and her last day will be March 1. I want to thank her for her vision, creativity and leadership.

    Together, these factors contributed to our decision to reduce our YouTube Originals slate. Going forward, we will only be funding programs that are part of our Black Voices and YouTube Kids Funds. We will honor our commitment for already contracted shows in progress and creators who are involved with those shows should expect to hear from us directly in the coming days.

    — Robert Kyncl (@rkyncl), January, 18

  • Toyota Reconsidering Charging for Key Fob Remote Start

    Toyota is reconsidering a controversial decision to charge for keyless remote entry after backlash from owners and non-owners alike.

    Toyota ignited a firestorm in mid-December when The Drive broke news the company planned on disabling key fob remote start unless customers were enrolled in a monthly subscription. Rather than announcing the change only for upcoming models, Toyota said it would apply to models sold from 2018 forward.

    At the time the news broke, Toyota was less than forthcoming with details, but the company has since provided The Drive with more information. Evidently, the remote start functionality — activated by pressing the lock button three times — was never advertised in official Toyota materials as a feature, and was something many dealers simply told customers about.

    Toyota says the issue comes from software logic related to the data communication module (DCM), which checks for the presence of a subscription before allowing certain feature. The remote start is one such feature, even though the functionality is handled locally, between the fob and the car.

    “The subscription truly is for the app,” a Toyota spokesperson told The Drive. “The key fob remote start was never intended to be a cost item either at the time of purchase or through subscription.”

    The company claims it never anticipated the pushback it received, although it’s hard to imagine how a company with the marketing resources of Toyota managed to miss such an obvious conclusion, especially given the “subscription fatigue” many customers feel. It’s also not clear how or why the company did not realize dealerships were telling customers about the remote start, or that it would be such a loved feature — one customers would not want to give up.

    Either way, Toyota says it is reevaluating the situation and trying to determine if the functionality can be left as-is.

  • Want to Remote Start Your Toyota? You’ll Need to Pay a Subscription

    Want to Remote Start Your Toyota? You’ll Need to Pay a Subscription

    Toyota has revealed that customers will need to pay a subscription fee to use the remote start functionality of their key fobs.

    Remote start is a popular add-on feature for many vehicles, and can be a life-saver in cold or extremely hot weather. Unfortunately, Toyota customers who thought their vehicles came with remote start are in for a bit of a surprise: They’ll need to pay a subscription fee to continue using it.

    Subscription-based services have become incredibly popular in the tech industry, with everyone from enterprise software providers to shareware authors opting for the licensing model. That model seems to be making its way into the automotive industry, with luxury manufacturers turning to subscriptions to unlock high-end features.

    In a turn of events, however, the world’s largest automaker appears to also be embracing subscription-based services. According to The Drive, 2018 and later Toyota models with a key fob that includes remote start will require a Remote Connect subscription in order to continue working.

    If more automakers embrace Toyota’s position, it’s a safe bet the demand for aftermarket remote start kits will skyrocket.

  • Patreon Building Video Product to Help Creators Break Free of YouTube

    Patreon Building Video Product to Help Creators Break Free of YouTube

    Patreon is working on a video platform to help creators break free of their reliance on YouTube, a move that could have a major impact on the market.

    YouTube has long been the preferred video platform for content creators, although the relationship has not always been a rosy one. YouTube’s algorithms occasionally de-prioritizes content unfairly, and YouTube has de-monetized entire categories of videos.

    Many creators have taken to using Patreon to supplement their income, receiving donations from patrons that enjoy their content. According to The Verge, Patreon CEO Jack Conte says the company is building a video platform that could completely replace YouTube for many creators.

    “We already host podcasts, and now we’re starting to host video, as well,” he says. “We’re building a video product … So in terms of how we’ve approached our strategy, and what exactly it is that we’re building, we’re building the horizontal architecture for any creator, no matter their medium, or no matter the upload format, to be able to build a business around their work.”

    A Patreon video platform could be a game-changer for the subscription economy, and could eventually put a serious dent in YouTube’s popularity.

  • YouTube Nixing the Dislike Count

    YouTube Nixing the Dislike Count

    YouTube is removing the visible dislike count in an effort to combat harassment of content creators.

    Likes and dislikes are an important part of YouTube’s platform, playing a role in the algorithms that decide what content gets recommended. Dislikes can be problematic, however, as some creators find themselves on the receiving end of “dislike attacks,” where users try to drive up the number of dislikes, effectively tanking a video. Smaller channels are especially vulnerable to this behavior.

    We also heard directly from smaller creators and those just getting started that they are unfairly targeted by this behavior — and our experiment confirmed that this does occur at a higher proportion on smaller channels.

    To address the issues, YouTube says the dislike button will still be available for people to use, but the number of dislikes will no longer be publicly visible. The count will still be available privately for the content creator to see.

    Based on what we learned, we’re making the dislike counts private across YouTube, but the dislike button is not going away. This change will start gradually rolling out today.

    https://youtu.be/kxOuG8jMIgI
  • Netflix Buys Night School Studio, Creator of Oxenfree

    Netflix Buys Night School Studio, Creator of Oxenfree

    Netflix has purchased Night School Studio, its first game studio, as the company expands from streaming into gaming.

    Netflix has been making a move into gaming, hiring former Electronic Arts executive Mike Verdu to head up its efforts. The company later confirmed its plans to offer games to its subscribers at no extra cost and ad-free.

    Night School Studio is the maker of the critically acclaimed Oxenfree. Significantly, the purchase would seem to indicate Netflix’s efforts will not be restricted to mobile games, given that Oxenfree is a cross-platform game.

    Verdu made the announcement in a blog post.

    Founded by Sean Krankel and Adam Hines in 2014, Night School Studio is best known for their critically acclaimed debut game, OXENFREE. We’re inspired by their bold mission to set a new bar for storytelling in games. Their commitment to artistic excellence and proven track record make them invaluable partners as we build out the creative capabilities and library of Netflix games together.

    We’ll continue working with developers around the world and hiring the best talent in the industry to deliver a great collection of exclusive games designed for every kind of gamer and any level of play. Like our shows and films, these games will all be included as part of your Netflix membership — all with no ads and no in-app purchases. Stay tuned for more.

    The purchase price was not disclosed.

  • Office 2021 Arriving October 5, No Subscription Required

    Office 2021 Arriving October 5, No Subscription Required

    Microsoft Office 2021 is arriving on October 5, and users will be able to purchase it for a one-time fee and no subscription.

    While Microsoft has gone all-in on Microsoft 365, it’s subscription-based version of the popular office suite, there are many instances where individuals and companies may not want to be locked into a subscription. For those customers, Microsoft makes Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC), for both Windows and macOS.

    According to a blog post by Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, Office LTSC offers some performance improvements, but is missing key elements included in Microsoft 365.

    Office LTSC is designed for specific scenarios: regulated devices that cannot accept feature updates, process control devices on the manufacturing floor, and specialty systems that cannot connect to the internet. To meet this need, Office LTSC will provide a locked-in-time version of familiar productivity tools. While it offers performance improvements and expanded accessibility, it will not offer the cloud-based capabilities of Microsoft 365 Apps like real-time collaboration and AI-driven automation in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as security and compliance capabilities that give added confidence in a hybrid world.

    The latest version of Office LTSC will be available October 5, the same day as Windows 11.

  • Docker Updates Subscriptions, Desktop Not Free for Large Businesses

    Docker Updates Subscriptions, Desktop Not Free for Large Businesses

    Docker has updated its subscriptions, and Docker Desktop is no longer free for large businesses.

    Docker is widely used in the cloud industry, as it provides a way to package an application, along with all its dependencies, in a cross-platform container. Virtually every major cloud service supports Docker containers, and the company says some “55% of professional developers use Docker every day at work.”

    The company is looking to monetize more of its products, specifically Docker Desktop. Doing so will help the company better keep pace with the growth in the developer market.

    As part of the change, Docker is introducing a new top-tier subscription, Docker Business, coming in at $21 per user per month. The new plan includes improved management and security options, especially for software development at scale.

    The change also means that Docker Desktop is no longer free for large businesses, those with more 250 employees or $10 million in annual revenue. The free plan has also been renamed to “Personal.”

    The changes went into effect on August 31, 2021, although “there is a grace period until January 31, 2022 for those who require a paid subscription to use Docker Desktop.”

  • Twitter Buying Scroll to Serve as Foundation for Subscription Service

    Twitter Buying Scroll to Serve as Foundation for Subscription Service

    Twitter has announced it is buying Scroll as it looks to establish a subscription service for premium content.

    Twitter has been looking for ways to diversify its services and new ways to monetize its user base. Despite being one of the oldest social media platforms, Twitter has been surpassed in many ways by newer, upstart platforms.

    The company is purchasing Scroll in an effort to introduce paid subscription services, free of ads. Twitter VP Mike Park announced the company’s plans on the company’s blog:

    That’s why we’re excited to announce that Twitter is acquiring Scroll. Scroll has built a way to read articles without the ads, pop-ups, and other clutter that get in the way, cleaning up the reading experience and giving people what they want: just the content. Meanwhile, publishers who work with Scroll can bring in more revenue than they would from traditional ads on a page. It’s a better Internet for readers and for writers.

    Twitter also hopes integrating Scroll will help it to assist the journalism industry, one that has experienced major setbacks as a result fo the digital transformation.

    Those who create and consume news know that reading – and more broadly, journalism – deserve a better future. Scroll will help us build that future, solving one of the most frustrating parts about reading content online. We want to reimagine what they’ve built to deliver a seamless reading experience to our hyper-engaged audiences and allow publishers to deliver cleaner content that can make them more money than today’s business models.

    To do this, we plan to include Scroll as part of an upcoming subscription offering we’re currently exploring. As a Twitter subscriber, picture getting access to premium features where you can easily read articles from your favorite news outlet or a writer’s newsletter from Revue, with a portion of your subscription going to the publishers and writers creating the content.

    Park said Scroll will pause new sign-ups while the service is integrated with Twitter. After the integration, Twitter will work on growing Scroll’s subscriber base.

  • YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Passes 50 Million Subscribers

    YouTube Premium and YouTube Music Passes 50 Million Subscribers

    YouTube Premium and YouTube Music have crossed the 50 million subscriber market, just a few years after Google unveiled YouTube subscriptions.

    YouTube is the undisputed champion among video platforms, but much of the platform’s income is based on ads. The company does offer a subscription service, and it has crossed a major milestone, according to Head of Music Lyor Cohen.

    It’s been almost 6 years since we kicked off our subscription journey at YouTube and today we’re excited to share the news that we’ve crossed 50 million Music and Premium subscribers, including trialers. It’s an honor to build a membership that allows people to more deeply immerse themselves in music, learning, fashion, gaming, and more, all the while supporting the creators and artists that make it possible. Music and Premium subscriptions are key pillars of YouTube’s monetization, enabling unique content and communities to flourish.

  • YouTube Paid Creators $30 Billion Over the Last Three Years

    YouTube Paid Creators $30 Billion Over the Last Three Years

    YouTube has provided insight into the state of its content platform, including some impressive figures regarding its revenue and payouts to creators.

    YouTube is the undisputed king of video platforms. The company recently crossed the milestone of two million creators in its monetization program — the YouTube Partner Program (YPP) — and is revealing just how much it has paid those creators over the last three years.

    Creators who are part of YPP can make money and earn a living from their content on YouTube with ten different monetization features (and we keep adding more), from advertiser revenue to selling merchandise. Over the last three years, we’ve paid more than $30 billion to creators, artists, and media companies. 

    With $7 billion in ad revenue in Q2 20201 alone, YouTube’s report is an impressive glimpse into just how important the platform is to Google’s overall business.

  • HBO Forces Apple TV Users to HBO Max, Shuts Down Apple TV Channel

    HBO Forces Apple TV Users to HBO Max, Shuts Down Apple TV Channel

    HBO has shut down its Apple TV Channel, forcing users to embrace HBO Max instead.

    Apple TV Channels is the company’s premium channel service, allowing users to subscribe to premium channels and watch them via the Apple TV app. The billing is also handled via Apple’s ecosystem, rather than paying the content channel directly.

    As 9to5Mac reports, HBO had already stopped accepting new subscribers via Apple TV Channels once HBO Max launched. Now the company has even blocked existing subscribers from accessing content, forcing Apple TV users to use HBO Max instead.

    Warner Media clearly sees HBO Max as the future of its streaming efforts. Unfortunately, that seems to mean promoting HBO Max exclusively, even at the expense of partnerships that benefit the end user.

  • YouTube Unveils Super Thanks So Fans Can Support Favorite Channels

    YouTube Unveils Super Thanks So Fans Can Support Favorite Channels

    YouTube has unveiled a new feature, Super Thanks, as a way for fans to support their favorite channels and content creators.

    Like other social media platforms, YouTube is looking for ways to keep content creators happy and loyal to the platform. Its latest endeavor is Super Thanks, a new way for fans to support creators.

    “For creators, building a business isn’t a one-size-fit-all approach,” writes Neal Mohan, Chief Product Officer. “Some may gravitate towards tools like channel memberships while others may double down on Super Chat. At YouTube, we’re always looking for fresh ways creators can diversify their revenue streams. That’s why I’m excited to unveil our fourth Paid Digital Good — Super Thanks. This new feature gives creators yet another way to earn money while also allowing them to strengthen relationships with viewers.”

    The feature appears to already be gaining fans, with some streamers seeing the feature accounting for nearly 15% of their revenue.

    The feature is currently in beta but, with today’s announcement, is now available to thousands of creators.

  • New York Magazine Working With Apple on ‘Journalism Project’

    New York Magazine Working With Apple on ‘Journalism Project’

    New York Magazine Editor in Chief, David Haskell has said his publication is working with Apple on a “journalism project.”

    The news industry has been under siege for years, thanks mainly to the rise of digital news and publications. A number of companies have worked on solutions, one of those being Apple News. 

    Various publications have met with differing degrees of success with Apple’s platform, but it appears New York Magazine has not seen game-changing results. Despite that, it appears the publication is working with on a journalistic endeavor with Apple, which Haskell alluded to in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily.

    We’re working with Apple right now on a journalism project together and that has unlocked some opportunities for us. It seems to be fairly consistent with the larger strategy of thinking about this place as a subscription business, but I don’t think Apple News has been a game changer for us.

    It should be interesting to see what Haskell is talking about, and whether the project it’s working on with Apple will be available to other publications as well.