4 ms·

> The op is calling it a donation when in actually it is a tip. Er, unless I'm missing something, that's the same thing.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
temp667 6y ago
Cool - I will start deducting the tips and gifts I give my friend and family on my taxes!! Can you provide your name and address so I can cite your views when the IRS comes knocking? So we are 100% clear, donations are things given to charities. Gifts and tips are generally given to individuals. In a lot of contexts, including with google, there is a major difference, and folks pretending to be charities to use the donation exceptions are basically scammers (in google's eyes). Not sure I disagree either.
- bashinator 6y ago
  You seem to have an exclusively legalistic interpretation of language that doesn’t necessarily account for casual, real-life use of speech and writing.
  - temp667 6y ago
    The person is complaining about google's policies. Google's policies follow this accepted language. You are allowed to have donate now buttons to accept donations on or even off platform if you are a charity. If you want to make up your own words, and then be outraged that google and others don't agree with you - fine. We are living in alternative facts / outrage world these days. But if someone calls you out on this - and points out that plenty of scammers also try to thread this needle in lots of ways, maybe worth a minute of real life reflection.
    - bashinator 6y ago
      Well now I’m curious. Do you suppose if the app instead of “donation”, said “I’m giving you the gift of this software. If you’d like to return the favor, click here” it would fall within Google’s TOS? I personally kinda doubt it; I think the actual outcome Google wants is to prevent alternative means of monetizing an app, and being strict about the semantics of what a “donation” is, is mostly a means to that end.
      - temp667 6y ago
        No, that would be outside of TOS because it is messaging which would lead to a non Google Play billing payment flow. "may not lead users to a payment method other than Google Play's billing system. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, leading users to other payment methods via: .... [lots edited out] links, messaging, advertisements or other calls to action". The TOS specifically notes that things like tax deductible donations, payments for gambling, and physical services such as cruises and airfare ARE permitted to link outside of google play because google does not want to deal with those through Play in most cases. I think you are actually banned from using Google for those. So the key is a tax deductible donation - and a payment, even voluntary, to an individual in the US at least is not a tax deductible donation in almost all cases. My sense is google is merchant of record, and can't control the delivery of those other types of services (cruises, airfare, wire transfers, gambling etc) and the related liabilities the way it can with digital stuff and apps - so Lyft would be allowed to bill directly and if a lyft driver assaults you and sues, google was not seller or payment handler.
  - willseth 6y ago
    This is tantamount to suggesting that language should always make sense regardless of context, which is absurd. Homonyms could not even exist!
willseth 6y ago
Just to reiterate the other commenter who was inexplicably downvoted, donations are for charities, tips are profit. It seems completely reasonable to waive app store commissions for a charity, but not something that's for profit.
- mayneack 6y ago
  Charities are not the only entities that receive donations. Political candidates and other advocacy groups (like the ACLU) are mostly donation based non-charities. This year I've seen dozens of restaurants asking for donations to keep afloat. Google may have a more constrained definition for their TOS, but I don't think this use of "donate" is outside the common understanding of the word.
  - willseth 6y ago
    Given the very obvious context of TFA, I don't see how this is relevant. Yes, what makes something a "charity" may be confusing and difficult to define. (AFAIK Google simply has a list of organizations they think are charities) However, it's not ambiguous or confusing at all that this guy is not a charity.
- mannerheim 6y ago
  The other commenter was explicably downvoted because this is not a distinction that's made in the English language; a 'donation' in the vernacular does not imply it is tax-deductible, and this is not a distinction that Google itself is consistent with, since GoFundMe is available on the Play Store, and they refer to contributions made on that platform as 'donations'.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

temp667 6y ago

Cool - I will start deducting the tips and gifts I give my friend and family on my taxes!! Can you provide your name and address so I can cite your views when the IRS comes knocking? So we are 100% clear, donations are things given to charities. Gifts and tips are generally given to individuals. In a lot of contexts, including with google, there is a major difference, and folks pretending to be charities to use the donation exceptions are basically scammers (in google's eyes). Not sure I disagree either.

bashinator 6y ago
You seem to have an exclusively legalistic interpretation of language that doesn’t necessarily account for casual, real-life use of speech and writing.
- temp667 6y ago
  The person is complaining about google's policies. Google's policies follow this accepted language. You are allowed to have donate now buttons to accept donations on or even off platform if you are a charity. If you want to make up your own words, and then be outraged that google and others don't agree with you - fine. We are living in alternative facts / outrage world these days. But if someone calls you out on this - and points out that plenty of scammers also try to thread this needle in lots of ways, maybe worth a minute of real life reflection.
  - bashinator 6y ago
    Well now I’m curious. Do you suppose if the app instead of “donation”, said “I’m giving you the gift of this software. If you’d like to return the favor, click here” it would fall within Google’s TOS? I personally kinda doubt it; I think the actual outcome Google wants is to prevent alternative means of monetizing an app, and being strict about the semantics of what a “donation” is, is mostly a means to that end.
    - temp667 6y ago
      No, that would be outside of TOS because it is messaging which would lead to a non Google Play billing payment flow. "may not lead users to a payment method other than Google Play's billing system. This prohibition includes, but is not limited to, leading users to other payment methods via: .... [lots edited out] links, messaging, advertisements or other calls to action". The TOS specifically notes that things like tax deductible donations, payments for gambling, and physical services such as cruises and airfare ARE permitted to link outside of google play because google does not want to deal with those through Play in most cases. I think you are actually banned from using Google for those. So the key is a tax deductible donation - and a payment, even voluntary, to an individual in the US at least is not a tax deductible donation in almost all cases. My sense is google is merchant of record, and can't control the delivery of those other types of services (cruises, airfare, wire transfers, gambling etc) and the related liabilities the way it can with digital stuff and apps - so Lyft would be allowed to bill directly and if a lyft driver assaults you and sues, google was not seller or payment handler.
- willseth 6y ago
  This is tantamount to suggesting that language should always make sense regardless of context, which is absurd. Homonyms could not even exist!

willseth 6y ago

Just to reiterate the other commenter who was inexplicably downvoted, donations are for charities, tips are profit. It seems completely reasonable to waive app store commissions for a charity, but not something that's for profit.

mayneack 6y ago
Charities are not the only entities that receive donations. Political candidates and other advocacy groups (like the ACLU) are mostly donation based non-charities. This year I've seen dozens of restaurants asking for donations to keep afloat. Google may have a more constrained definition for their TOS, but I don't think this use of "donate" is outside the common understanding of the word.
- willseth 6y ago
  Given the very obvious context of TFA, I don't see how this is relevant. Yes, what makes something a "charity" may be confusing and difficult to define. (AFAIK Google simply has a list of organizations they think are charities) However, it's not ambiguous or confusing at all that this guy is not a charity.
mannerheim 6y ago
The other commenter was explicably downvoted because this is not a distinction that's made in the English language; a 'donation' in the vernacular does not imply it is tax-deductible, and this is not a distinction that Google itself is consistent with, since GoFundMe is available on the Play Store, and they refer to contributions made on that platform as 'donations'.