SAN FRANCISCO  A day after Apple stirred up online publishers by announcing a digital subscription plan that some called too restrictive and financially burdensome, Google on Wednesday announced its own payment service for digital content that aims to be more publisher-friendly.

Google’s service, called Google One Pass, is a way for online publishers to sell digital content on the Web and through mobile applications using Google’s existing payment service, Google Checkout. Readers will be able to get access to that content on many devices using their Google e-mail address and password.

“The overall goal is to bring publishers a simple way to charge for content they choose to charge for, and for readers to have simple access without any restrictions on which devices they use,” said Jeannie Hornung, a Google spokeswoman.

Google’s service seems to directly respond to some publishers’ concerns about Apple’s plan.

“This is purely a shot across Apple’s bow at a critical point in time,” said James L. McQuivey, a digital media analyst at Forrester Research. “That’s what the industry wants right now, to know there is an alternative to Apple and someone willing to talk about a more reasonable rate.”