Google Rolls Out Ways For Developers To Make Money On Assistant

Google announced Wednesday (Oct. 3) that developers of Google Assistant can earn money via premium experiences for their users.

In a blog post, Tarun Jain, group product manager for Actions on Google, said that while the company has offered support for digital goods and subscriptions and Google Sign-In for the Assistant, it is also giving it an overhaul on mobile phones, enabling developers to create more interactions.

“While we’ve offered transactions for physical goods for some time, starting today, you will also be able to offer digital goods, including one-time purchases like upgrades – expansion packs or new levels, for example – and even recurring subscriptions directly within your Action,” wrote the Google executive in the blog post. “Starting today, users can complete these transactions while in conversation with your Action through speakers, phones and Smart Displays. This will be supported in the U.S. to start, with more locales coming soon.”

Jain highlighted Headspace, which now offers Android users the ability to subscribe to their plans and see an upgraded experience while talking to their Action. Meanwhile, Jain said Volley added digital goods to its role-playing game Castle Master so users could enhance their experience by purchasing upgrades.

Google also announced Sign-In for the Assistant, which is a secure authentication method that makes account linking easy for users and reduces user drop-off for login. With Google Sign-In, users can use their voice to log in and link accounts on smart speakers with the Assistant.

“In the past, account linking could be a frustrating experience for your users; having to manually type a username and password – or worse, create a new account – breaks the natural conversational flow,” the executive said in the blog post. “With Google Sign-In, users can now create a new account with just a tap or confirmation through their voice. Most users can even link to their existing accounts with your service using their verified email address.”

Meanwhile, Venture Beat reported that Google Assistant’s visual experience on Android smartphones was upgraded Wednesday (Oct. 3) with improvements to web search results, weather, sports box scores and the visual snapshot of the day that Google Assistant provides.