Google Checkout Blog

Making money with Google In-App Payments for the Web

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Today at Google I/O, we launched the developer API of Google In-App Payments for the web. In-App Payments enables any web application to receive payments from users and keep them engaged in your application. It is available to all US developers in sandbox today and will be followed by a consumer launch and an international rollout over the summer.

The team started building Google In-App Payments soon after Jambool was acquired by Google in August 2010. This project brought Social Gold technology and expertise and combined it with Google scale. For the payments platform that we’re announcing today, the theme is simplicity:

The simple API makes integration fast so you can start getting paid sooner. Implementing In-App Payments requires only two API calls: one to initiate the payment, and one to accept the notification when a payment is made.

The simple user experience will let your users pay without leaving the app or entering billing details. Users who have previously completed a purchase on Google Checkout, Android MarketGoogle eBookstore, YouTube Movies and more can use that same account to pay for items in your app in minimal steps. Fast payments that keep users in your game or site can boost customer conversion rates, increasing your revenue.

The simple pricing model is a flat payment processing fee of 5%. It’s 5% whether you distribute your app yourself or via the Chrome Web Store. There are no fixed purchase fees, setup costs, or monthly minimums.

The JavaScript version of the In-App Payments API is available to developers today. A Flash version of the API will be available in the coming weeks.

We invite you to sign up, start integrating your apps and send us feedback. Let’s work together to delight consumers this summer with amazing web apps, monetized effectively, all in the app.

Posted by Amit Fulay, Product Manager and Mikhail Seregine, Software Engineer

In-App Payments for web apps at Google I/O

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Google I/O is coming up just a week from today, and the Commerce track will showcase some of the newest ways to buy and sell online. In the Commerce sessions, Google product developers and their guests will explain and show examples of how to use Google tools to monetize your business.

Web application developers may be especially interested in the In-App Payments session of the Commerce track. We invite developers to a deep dive into the social games and digital goods industries and Google’s solution for payments for these areas. We trust that you’ll leave with the knowledge of how to better monetize your web application and a special gift by which to remember it. Look forward to seeing you there!