Google shuts down paid Chrome extensions

Google has recently announced the shutting down paid Chrome extensions offered on the Chrome Web Store. The developers who are trying to monetize their extensions are in trouble. They now need to do so by using other third-party payment-handling systems.

Google announced that “The Chrome Web Store payments system is now deprecated and will be shut down over the coming months”.

The developers can no longer make new paid extensions according to Google. Though this policy has already been in place since March. Google noticed an uptick in fraudulent transactions that “aim to exploit users”. The policy followed a temporary suspension of publishing paid extensions since January.

Developers who are provide paid extensions through Chrome Store and use its licensing API will have to find other ways to monetize.

Google says that existing extensions can no longer charge customers using the Chrome Web Store’s payment system. Google will gradually phase out the other functionality over the coming months.

These aren’t the only notable changes to extensions that Google has made this year. The company rolled out a numerous policies update in April intended to reduce spammy extensions. This includes banning multiple extensions that do the same thing like not allowing developers to manipulate reviews to try and get better placement for their extensions and forbidding extensions that abuse notifications.

This was possible since the Chrome Web Store ecosystem has grown and the developers have many payment-handling options available in their system.

Google also reported, “If you use Chrome Web Store payments to charge for your extension or in-app purchases, you’ll need to migrate to another payments processor in the near future. If you use the licensing API to keep track of who has paid, you’ll need to implement another way of tracking user licenses”.

Google temporarily disabled new paid items in March following numerous fraudulent extensions and payment scams. Now Google has permanently banned and paid extensions with this announcement.

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