Google Checkout launches today
Today Google launched its buying service, Google Checkout (known previously by Google-watchers as GBuy).
News.com: It is going to make purchasing easier for Web users. You’ll just enter your credit card billing and address information once, and then on any commerce site you go that’s Checkout-enabled, you won’t have to enter your data again.
This is not much of a competitor to eBay’s PayPal, as some have predicted. Checkout is designed for serious merchants more than for individuals unloading old Star Trek snow globes on eBay. To be sure, the few merchants that are considering adding PayPal as a payment option (and that don’t already have it), might divert their energies to signing up for Checkout, however there’s no reason a commerce site couldn’t offer both PayPal and Checkout if it desired.
Will people trust Google? I bet they will. Google will push its high-end partners — Buy.com, Starbucks, Timberland, and Levis are all part of the launch — and the Google Checkout logo will appear on AdSense items from these and other vendors. This flag will take on a Visa-like pervasiveness.
Stores will pay Google a small fee for their transactions. This is a potentially gigantic revenue stream for Google, but more importantly, if successful, no other online company will end up knowing as much about the spending behaviors of online consumers as Google. This data is no doubt going to go towards making online ads even more targeted and effective (and thus possibly more expensive), which will also add handsomely to Google’s income. For this reason, I think the Checkout fee structure is backwards: Google should be paying its merchants for the privilege of capturing all their transaction data, rather than charging them for each transaction.
Protect the Western Arctic Reserve From Big Oil
The Western Arctic Reserve, also known as the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, is the largest tract of unprotected, relatively pristine public land in the United States. The 23.5 million-acre reserve is home to imperiled polar bears, seabirds and one of the densest populations of nesting raptors in the world. Its shores and lagoons harbor beluga whales, seals, walruses and other marine mammals. The BLM is accepting comments on a planning document that sets the stage for oil and gas leasing in the western Arctic for decades to come. Help save this national treasure by telling the BLM to protect the Western Arctic Reserve from dirty fossil fuel development »
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Comments
Google appears to be taking over the world.
All hail the mighty Google…
Hmmm, I just read their page and am leary. I’m looking around some more. They do drop the charges if you advertise with them, that’s a nice two-fer…
So I was thinking the whole time I posted this… we should probably look into offering a Google Checkout option for Sock Dreams ;@}
People around the world will chorus, “All Hail the Mightiest Sock Empire in the Universe!”
I havent looked into their charges, but every merchant account including PayPal has service charges…
I think its pretty cool they drop the charges if you advertise with them. No-one else offers that.
Exactly, everyone does charge and their nonadvertising rates are indeed competitive, plus they offer the merchant additional fraud protection (as does Paypal). I think we should go for it, the timing couldn’t be better ~8)
so you enter your details in once and can buy ….
ok …. cool… but what if someone else uses your pc… or finds your login?
what then :P
well I guess its the same as if you have an Amazon or eBay account. Its up to you to look after your login info when it comes to any site that has your credit card details.
Yeah, fine, but what if a mutated version of Bird Flu manages to hack into Google’s systems and change the logo to read Shut Up Freedom!
Who would stand for that?