Google Chrome has just announced a serious change that may not be good news for many developers. In a surprise announcement, Google announced shutting down the Chrome Web Store payments system. This move will directly hit the paid Chrome extension developers.
Google Shuts Down Chrome Web Store Payments System
As revealed through a recent post, Google has decided to terminate Chrome Web Store payments for good. Specifically, Google has deprecated the system and will shut it down completely in the coming months.
The Chrome Web Store payments system facilitated the developers in monetizing their extensions. The system handled payments such as subscription fees, free trials, and one-time payments.
Hence, deprecating this system compels the developers to move to another payment system to continue monetizing the extensions.
Explaining the reason behind this decision, Google stated,
The web has come a long way in the 11 years since we launched the Chrome Web Store. Back then, we wanted to provide a way for developers to monetize their Web Store items. But in the years since, the ecosystem has grown and developers now have many payment-handling options available to them.
Though, this isn’t a sudden move as Google first suspended the service in January 2020, upon detecting fraudulent transactions. Yet, they called it a temporary suspension then. Later, they disabled the service in March 2020 in the wake of COVID-19.
What Next?
Now that Web Store payments won’t be available, Google advises the developers to switch to other systems.
But there is no need to rush as Google will proceed with sunsetting the service gradually. As of September 2020, Google has permanently banned new paid items creation, something already in place since March.
Whereas, from December 2020, they will disable free trials, further leading to the disabling of payments from February 2021 onwards.
Users can visit the milestone dates announced by Google to know the details.
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