Google Wallet is a pretty nifty service. I use it for app purchases on my Android, but I can understand why consumers and developers alike would want to avoid using it. It seems that Google isn’t giving them a choice anymore.
Reuters obtained an email sent from Google to Android app developers that essentially said they had to start using Google Wallet for in-app purchases or get delisted from the Android Market, I mean, Google Play. This would put the Android operating system on par with iOS and its universal use of iTunes for all purchases on the platform.
The use of Google Wallet does have its drawbacks, however, especially for developers. Google takes a 30 percent cut of any purchases made through Google Wallet. The hope, according to developers, is that more purchases will now be made which will offset the increased cost to them.
We reached out to Google for comment but have yet to hear back.
This news follows on the this week’s announcement that the Android Market is now being integrated into Google Play alongside the company’s other services. This makes Android explicitly more of a Google product and app developers having to use Google Wallet for purchases only makes sense.
Of course, Google Wallet isn’t only used for app purchases. It’s supposed to be the future of buying anything digital or retail – period. Rival services have been popping up recently, however, like PayPal’s efforts at The Home Depot or the recently announced collective of department stores using their own tech.
This is just pure speculation here, but Google Wallet may only have Android to fall back on if any of these other services take hold. Google is no stranger to failure, but Google Wallet is one of those services that nobody, especially Google, wants to see fail. With it being forced onto Google Play developers and users, it gives Google Wallet the same amount of importance as iTunes. While not as impressive as being the service to herald in the next generation of payment systems, owning its own little corner of the digital retail landscape is proof enough of its success.
What do you think? Is Google within their right to force app developers to adopt Google Wallet? Or should it be left open to whatever they want to use? Let us know in the comments.