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The Street this week reported that Google and PayPal are set to announce that long-rumored deal to make eBay’s e-commerce platform a payment option on Google’s Android Market.
The Street said, “sources familiar with the situation say the deal is all but sealed, with an announcement coming as early as Oct. 26 during the PayPal developers’ conference in San Francisco.”
If this is true, this is a huge play for Android Market and confirms a rumor rekindled this summer.
Users who want to buy paid Android apps currently must use credit cards, debit cards and Google Checkout, which is hardly the sophisticated payment platform provided by PayPal or iTunes.
PayPal serves some 87 million users, while iTunes also boasts millions of paying customers. These service providers have e-commerce down cold. Integrating PayPal with Android would also enable one-click purchasing, paving the way for greater usage.
Google’s payment infrastructure is, by many counts abysmal, until recently accepting paid apps in only 13 countries. That’s not going to cut it in a world where Apple is helping developers sell apps in over 90 countries.
Android’s market share on smartphones is approaching 20 percent, according to ComScore.
If Google wants to ensure that Android keeps growing share versus Apple and RIM, and extend its OS success into tablet computers, it really needs to help developers get paid for their work.
Or else those developers will go to Apple or Rim. Wouldn’t you?