Google launched a pilot program in India in 2021 to allow Google Play Store users to use alternate billing methods for in-app purchases. The program aims to provide users with more payment options and reduce the dependence on credit and debit cards.

Here are some key points about the program:

The pilot program is currently available only in India.
It allows users to pay for in-app purchases using payment methods other than credit or debit cards, such as UPI, net banking, and carrier billing.

Google is partnering with several Indian payment providers to facilitate the alternate billing options. The program is available to all developers with apps on the Play Store, but they must integrate the alternate billing options into their apps to participate.

Google plans to expand the program to other countries in the future, but there is no timeline for this yet.

The program has been well-received by both users and developers in India, as it provides more flexibility and convenience in payment options.

In 2021, Google launched a pilot program in India to enable users to use alternate billing methods for in-app purchases on the Play Store. The program aims to provide users with more payment options and reduce the dependence on credit and debit cards, which can be challenging for many users to obtain. The program allows users to pay for in-app purchases using payment methods such as UPI, net banking, and carrier billing. Google is partnering with several Indian payment providers to facilitate the alternate billing options.

While the program is currently only available in India, Google plans to expand it to other countries in the future. All developers with apps on the Play Store can participate in the program, but they must integrate the alternate billing options into their apps to do so. The program has been well-received by both users and developers in India, as it provides more flexibility and convenience in payment options. Overall, Google's pilot program represents a step towards a more accessible and inclusive digital economy in India.

Earlier this year, Google announced a new pilot program to explore the user billing option in Google Play apps, allowing participating developers to offer users an alternative billing system alongside the billing system from Google Play. Google said that with this pilot, it continues to evolve its platform and increase the options available to developers and users while "maintaining its ability to invest in the ecosystem."

Over the past two years, Google has moved away from one-size-fits-all pricing, and today, 99 per cent of developers qualify for a service fee of 15 per cent or less. "We are constantly listening to external feedback and considering changes to our business that enable the Android ecosystem to compete and thrive," according to Google. Users will still have the option to use Google Play's billing system. According to the company, reasonable service fees will continue to apply to support your investments in Android and the Play Store. Spotify has already introduced the Google Play billing system alongside its current one.

After a rushed launch of Bard, Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, is trying to restore faith in rival ChatGPT, at least among his colleagues. In an email seen by CNBC, Pichai says workers should try out the AI-powered chatbot as ChatGPT's popularity and potential business continue to grow rapidly. The email was sent a week after Google unveiled its own Bard artificial intelligence chatbot, its initial demo offering incorrect answers. After the demo, Google shares fell substantially, leaving Google shareholders and investors in a frenzy. 

Pichai has also asked employees to give two to four hours of their time to Bard to improve its technology. The company will reportedly send out a detailed plan next week. He reminded the staff that Google hasn't always been the first to launch a product, but that hasn't impeded its ability to win. In the company-wide email, Pichai said this is an "uncomfortably exciting" moment, referring to Bard's launch mishap.

The letter shares, "I know this moment is uncomfortably exciting, and that's to be expected: the underlying technology is evolving rapidly with so much potential... Some of our most successful products were not first to market. They gained momentum because they solved important user needs and were built on deep technical insights." 

Google was referring to its leading position in the search market. In the early 2000s, there were several search engines on the market, but now Google has 90 per cent of the market. It is also not the pioneer of Android, although it bought it at an early stage. During that time, the market was dominated by Blackberry and Nokia custom OS, but today, Android has the largest mobile OS market share. 
 
In the email, Pichai was optimistic and said that AI has "gone through many winters and springs", adding that the "most important thing we can do right now is to focus on building a great product and developing it responsibly." Following the irregular launch of Google Bard last week, Google employees said the launch was rushed and failed. Google was feeling a lot of pressure from Microsoft, which is leveraging OpenAI's next-generation ChatGPT technology in its Bing search engine and Edge browser.