How The New York Times is Acquiring Subscribers Through Google Play Newsstand

On Friday, we covered Google’s relaunch of Currents as Google Play Newsstand, which now allows publishers to sell digital subscriptions. In that post, we

On Friday, we covered Google’s relaunch of Currents as Google Play Newsstand, which now allows publishers to sell digital subscriptions. In that post, we mentioned that name-brand publications like The Financial Times and The New York Times were signing up to use the service which only takes a 10% cut of subscription sales (compared to Apple’s 30%).Today we have a few more details about how The New York Times is sweetening the pot in order to acquire more subscribers through Google Play Newsstand.For one, NYT is loosening up its meter to allow 15 free articles per month between Nov. 20 and Jan. 5. After that, the meter will drop to its standard three-article monthly allotment for mobile devices (the website allows 10 free articles a month). Two, instead of a 99¢ per week trial, NYT is offering limited access through Google Play Newsstand and then a $15 monthly subscription price for full-access, which includes a free 30-day trial.One interesting thing to note — Google Play Newsstand will automatically populate the form for subscriptions with a user’s email address. Plus, I was wrong — Google Play is allowing publishers to have access to user’s emails, address and name! It looks like publishers can mandate this information during conversion and use it according to their own privacy policies. Subscribers can then opt-out of marketing and third-party messages.

The New York Times Google Play Newsstand

Google Play then requires users set-up an account with Google Wallet. This is both a pro and con for subscription marketers.

On the one hand, setting up an account with Google Wallet may be a deterrent for many consumers, especially after it became apparent how willing Google is to share consumer information with the government.On the other hand, once users have created an account, conversion will likely be easier for other publications looking to woo subscribers through Google’s Newsstand app as users will no longer have to pull out a credit card. This will be especially critical for mobile conversions.So, all in all, Google may finally be able to achieve what Apple has — a unique email tied to a credit card number for everyone of its users. And unlike Apple, they will control those email addresses as well. Which means they’ll have more power in the eCommerce space going forward, and publishers should be ready for a shift in how they do business with Google.