Google Play adding Usage-Based Billing subscriptions aimed at AI apps

Google Play today is giving Android developers more payment options around subscriptions, including Usage-Based Billing. Google says the “subscription landscape is evolving rapidly” due to generative AI and “increasingly sophisticated app experiences.” End users should be on the lookout for Usage-Based Billing to support generative AI apps and other usage-based services. This “prepaid metered billing” works by letting users “automatically top up their balance whenever it falls below a set threshold.” For large groups like businesses and schools, there’s Multi-Quantity Subscription Purchase. Organizations can “make multiple subscription purchases in a single transaction and easily assign those as seats or subscriptions to team members or students.” Mixed Carts allow developers to sell auto-renewing subscriptions and one-time products at the same time. For example: This unified experience also opens up powerful upsell opportunities for your business—such as offering targeted discounts if an end user purchases a complete bundle of a subscription and complementary in-app items together. Cross-Developer Bundling lets developers “create and sell a hard bundle of two or more complementary subscriptions in your own catalog.” The example Google gives is bundling a language-learning app with a travel guide service for a “combined subscription at a discounted rate.” This capability allows you to team up with other developers—or combine offerings across your own portfolio of apps—to deliver massive value through a single purchase. These Play Store features are “currently available or rolling out through [Google’s] Early Access Program.” FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.