Amazon, Barnes & Noble Pull Digital Purchases in Response to Google Play Crackdown

Google Play will soon be more ubiquitous, as developers selling their digital goods on Android apps will have to switch to Google Play billing or else be locked out of the Play Store, according to a report Monday (April 4) from Ars Technica.

The report noted that this has technically always been the rule, although it wasn’t usually enforced. However, that changed when Google gave developers a deadline of September 2021 to get on board with Google Play billing.

App developers were allowed to request a six-month extension, delaying the transition, but that extension officially ran out on March 31.

According to The Verge, Amazon and Barnes & Noble have complied with the rules, with Amazon able to sell whatever physical products it wants on its own billing system, though its Audible division’s digital purchases will fall under the new purview.

Audible responded by pulling U.S. currency purchases from the Android Audible app. However, the company notes you can still spend “credits” on the app.

Barnes & Noble is in a different position, ending digital purchases on its own hardware, the Nook HD 10”, because of the rules about Google Play. The entire purpose of the Nook line was to allow Barnes & Noble to sell books — now it will be “just another tablet,” according to the report.

Both companies could reportedly run digital purchases through Google Play, but don’t want to because it would give Google a cut of their sales. Because of this, the apps are now just clients to sync one’s existing library into.

PYMNTS wrote that Google and Spotify have recently announced a new agreement to let users download Spotify from the Google Play Store and choose to pay with either Spotify’s or Google’s payment systems.

See also: Google’s ‘Dual Billing Option’ Adds Pressure on Apple

The dual billing option will be displayed side by side in the app, which is a big departure from the old model where users could only use one payment system for in-app purchases.