[ilovejedd]

Maybe if Google made it easier to pay for content from the Play Store, more people would be buying stuff. Both Apple and Amazon allow you to purchase apps, etc. using gift cards (although I think Amazon still requires that you have a credit card associated with your account). The freemium model works better when kids are able to buy gift cards on their own (e.g. from Walgreens, Target, Walmart, etc) and not need to ask permission to use mom and dad's credit cards.

With Google, you can only pay via credit card (supposedly, with carrier billing, too but that didn't work for my prepaid Android). While plastic may be prevalent in the US, it's not so much in other countries. What I especially find annoying about the Google Play Store is purchasing content generates all these little $0.99~1.99 charges which always trigger a call from my bank's fraud prevention department.