In a blog post today, Google announced that developers can now sell digital goods and services via the Assistant. That means developers can sell things like subscriptions or in-game content via custom Actions without ever bouncing you out of Assistant. There are also improvements coming to Google sign-ins to make this process easier. For now, it is available in the US only.
You can also ensure a seamless premium experience as users move between your Android app and Action for Assistant by letting users access their digital goods across their relationship with you, regardless of where the purchase originated. You can manage your digital goods for both your app and your Action in one place, in the Play Console.
Digital purchases in Actions could include things like premium subscriptions. You can subscribe to the premium version of the services by voice and choose between plans. A Google Pay account is required to finalize the purchase, though. Additional content experiences in Actions could also be locked behind a paywall.
Once your users have access to a premium experience with digital goods, you will want to make sure your Action remembers them. To help with that, we're also introducing Google Sign-In for the Assistant, a secure authentication method that simplifies account linking for your users and reduces user drop off for login. Google Sign-In provides the most convenient way to log in, with just a few taps. With Google Sign-In users can even just use their voice to login and link accounts on smart speakers with the Assistant.
Google has added new tools to help you sign into your account. Until now, one had to sign into their account multiple times when linking to an Action, but now developers can instantly link existing accounts or create new accounts via Google Sign-in with your authorization. Starbucks already has this feature live in its Action.
News Source: Google
