Google Digital Newsstand In the Works for Android

by Kevin Krause on January 3rd, 2011 at 8:26 am

Google is continuing their campaign to have all forms of media covered when it comes to their digital enterprise. With Google’s ebookstore launching recently and the eventual promise of Google Music, the search giant is also making moves to introduce a digital newsstand service for their Android powered devices.

Google is said to currently be in talks with many major newspaper and magazine publishers ranging from Time Inc. and Conde Nast to the Hearst Group. News on the timing of the launch remains vague, however. There is even a chance that these plans gleaned from anonymous sources may never materialize. Google hopes to lure in publishers and take a jab at Apple and their iOS by offering a deal that takes less than the 30 percent currently pilfered when distributing a publication via the App Store.

Google did not deny the rumors, but provided an industry standard “we have nothing to announce at the moment.” Given all the jars Google has its hands in we can’t say if this one makes the cut or not.

[via SearchEngineWatch]

  • TF

    newspapers, magazines… they need to be cheaper than the print versions to ever be consumed on a digital device. Currently, they are just as expensive. Sometimes, more expensive. That’s asking a lot in today’s magazine world, where there’s about 4 pages of content and 46 pages of ads.

  • JoeyAndroid

    I would love to see Google build a digital newsstand for Android. I wished I had my franchise of Internet Cafes established already to help Google market the digital newsstand. I already have a name for my Internet Cafes: AndroidCafeStation.

  • http://trueacu.com acupunc

    Have to agree with TF. . . they need to drop the price on digital content. Make it a impulse by and people will purchase a lot more.

  • msgnyc

    Much like my complaint with Google Shopper being that it shouldve been a part of Google Goggles and not another entirely different app that does almost the same thing…
    This should be a part of Google Books and not another entirely seperate app…..

  • jerbear

    Echoing the above posters. When you remove printing and distribution costs, the ad revenue should pay for most or all of the content costs. $10 for a year’s subscription or $1 an issue for a monthly magazine seems reasonable. Any more is just too much.

  • Adrian

    is Goolge taking over the world?

  • Adrian

    *Google

  • Android Fan

    They are and we can all ride the gravy train with them. Hopefully they will not get too powerful as I not letting them get their hands on my private data.

  • Miguel

    This has been a massive failure on the iPad. It was recently covered by ArseTrchnica (I think). The problem is it’s too expensive. For example Car and Driver costs $5.00 per issue on the iPad. Even if you have a print subscription already.

    Unless they offer annual subscriptions I don’t see this succeeding.



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