"But for some reason, I won't pay for something inside the Android store."

It could be one of several things, which would actually vary from person to person, but all leading to paltry returns for _most_ Android developers vs. iOS.

1) The "perceived value" proposition - To a user, Google is "the search engine" and Android "the mobile OS", but they're both free to use. In a consumer's mind, why wouldn't then _everything_ else, including the Marketplace apps, be free. It doesn't help matters that Rovio's runaway blockbuster cultural gamechanger shared timesink app Angry birds is free on Android (albeit with ads).

2) The blatant, flagrant, rampant, money-maker shaking heaps of copyright theft and IP violations that make it to the top of the Marketplace lists. It makes the whole thing feel like a grey market bazaar in old Morocco or Bangkok - just sketchy as all hell. How could I entrust my credit card with a service that allows GPL violators and copyright flouters to rise to the _very tippy top_ of the charts? I mean, alot of that has changed since Google started putting the screws on very obvious scofflaws like Nintendo emulator game ROM packs, Star Wars weapon simulators, and famous rapper soundboards. But the die may be cast for some of the old-school adopters.

3) The weird availability - Android phone users had to pirate Marketplace apps from day one if they didn't come from the US. Now they're expected to _pay_ for stuff? Sorry, but once you've told them it's free, it's free for a loooong time. Hell, Napster all taught us way back that music "wanted to be free". It's taken over a decade for paid music to come back into some semblance of making any money; coincidentally, it's via Apple's iTunes.

My guess (not having used the Amazon store however) is that Android's permissions system is hurting it. Why does that app need location and full network access? So you become suspicious. And so on. While on iOS its automatically given full rights apps get, apart from location, which it asks for at runtime, not install time. So while the iOS app has as much ability to start feeding data home, the fact that the Android app is forced to admit it uses network access leaves us more suspicious.

It doesn't help that many apps have a perfectly legitimate purpose for that network access, to download and display ads.

Actually if you use certain frameworks without good reason in the Apple App Store, you get rejected.

It's a reasonable guess, but it would apply to free apps, too. (Even more, in fact, since they're usually ad-supported, which means they require Net access and probably your location.)

I agree 100%. However, I tried the amazon app store and instantly felt better at actually spending money. Somehow it just "feels" less shady.

This is probably all irrational and the Amazon store most likely doesn't address the real issues with the Google run store. But at the same time, I know the next time I want to look for an app, I will go to Amazon first.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that people aren't used to giving money to Google where they are more likely to have a trusted customer-vendor relationship with Amazon.

That being said Google is a well-known and trusted brand so I think something else might be at play here psychologically. Perhaps the public perception of Google's products as being "free" (to them) somehow increases the barrier to becoming a paid customer.

I have not an ounce of evidence to indicate that but I think it could be an interesting topic with big implications for the startup community.

I don't think it has anything to do with people's feelings about Google. Based on the Android owners I know, people who don't make that association strongly seem to respond the same way. The store itself just feels sketchy. I'm pretty sure it's mainly a design issue, although the fact that the iPhone store started off with high-quality stuff while Android Market was seeded with crapware also hurts the perception.

Great point, I'd second that. Could even be due to the fact that Google is used to taking money from businesses, not consumers. Amazon and Apple, consumer-focused companies, probably know how to do a better job at getting us to spend our cash from all their other experience.

I bought a Nexus one recently and while browsing for apps on the market saw many apps just listing every keyword from the dictionary in their description to get some keyword juice. Its similar to the keyword list you find in CL ads. Of course it turns you off that app but also does not make you feel good about the store itself.