Google likes to discontinue products without waiting until it launches some proper replacements. Lately, Google closed products that were used by millions of people. There's a race to destroy everything that was built by the old Google and build new products that are aligned with the most important features of the new Google: social and mobile.

Google Checkout is one of those old products. It was launched in 2006 as an effort to improve online shopping and to offer more value to AdWords advertisers. "One cool feature of Google Checkout is that you can buy from stores with a single Google login – no more entering the same info each time you buy, and no more having to remember different usernames and passwords for each store. To help you find places to shop, you'll see a little icon on the Google.com ads of stores offering Google Checkout," explained Google at that time. Google Checkout was free for merchants until 2008, then Google started to increase fees until it moved to PayPal's tiered pricing. Then Google Checkout became less attractive.


Back in 2011, Google launched Wallet, a new product focused on mobile payments. It started as an Android app available for Sprint Nexus S phones that used the NFC chip to make credit card payments at physical stores in the US. Since then, the app started to support a few other phones, mostly from Sprint. Google Checkout merged with Google Wallet, but it still remained a distinct product focused on online shopping and available internationally.

Now Google announces that Checkout will be discontinued. "Merchants can continue to accept payments using Google Checkout until November 20, 2013. If you don't have your own payment processing, you will need to transition to a different solution within six months. To make things easier, we've partnered with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks to offer you discounted migration options. If you are a U.S. merchant that does have payment processing, you can apply for Google Wallet Instant Buy, which offers a fast buying experience to Google Wallet shoppers."

Instant Buy is a simplified version of Google Checkout that has no fees because Google no longer processes payments. Instead, Google "passes a Virtual OneTime Card, a MasterCard-branded virtual prepaid debit card product that can only be used for the specific purchase for which it was issued. Using this card, merchants can process payments with their existing payment processor." Instant Buy is tied to Google Accounts and it's faster to use than the regular checkout experience, especially on mobile devices. Right now, Instant Buy is only available in the US.


Since Google Wallet is mostly a US-only service, users outside US will be limited to Google Play, other Google services and some web apps. Google has recently announced that Gmail users in the US will be able to send money using a new button from the Gmail interface. There's also Wallet for Digital Goods, an API for in-app payments limited to web apps, and it works outside US.

For now, Wallet remains a product with limited availability and many disjointed features. The virtual wallet that stores information about your credit cards, coupons, loyalty cards, gift cards, tickets and makes payments frictionless is still a work in progress. Google has a huge opportunity to create a successful product for payments: it owns Google Play, it can integrate it with Android and Chrome, not to mention Google Shopping and Google+. Google now has the most popular search engine, online video service, ad network, analytics service, webmail site, the most popular browser and the #1 mobile operating system.

Google is all about numbers, metrics and stats, so it's natural to see features that explore trends in user's activities. There's a product for search trends, one for music trends and now a product that shows trends in Google Checkout.

"Google Checkout Trends aggregates the sales data of Google Checkout merchants and charts it in a matter of seconds," explains the product's blog. As usually, Google doesn't show actual numbers, just the revenue evolution over time. The charts are borrowed from Google Finance, so they'll look familiar.

Google has recently replaced the link to Google Video from the homepage with a link to Product Search (formerly known as Froogle). This change is probably related to the increasing number of people that use Google to buy things in this season.


Product Search is also a great vehicle for Google Checkout, the payment service that still needs a lot of promotion. As you can see from the screenshot below, there's so much Google Checkout in Froogle, that you start wondering if the entire service is an ad.


Google Checkout also has special offers (savings, free shipping, frequent flyer miles) for consumers, in addition to more than a year of free processing for merchants.

Google indexes all the reviews from Google Checkout users and adds them to Product Search (e.g.: reviews for SnowandWater.com).

As the stores who use Google Checkout gain more and more visibility in search results and ads, Google hopes to pressure the rest of the merchants to accept Checkout. Users are trained to look after the Checkout badge because they'll buy things faster and more conveniently.

Even if Google appears to lose money in Checkout, the future could bring a bigger spending in AdWords and happier / more loyal users. To achieve this, Google added a link to an unpopular service to the homepage and cluttered search results and Product Search with Google Checkout badges.

Google's fast and frugal checkout makes Google more powerful because you trust it with information about your credit cards and the things you buy and because you finally allow Google to finish the process of obtaining search results with a genuine confirmation: an acquisition.

The Banking Unwired blog writes that Google Checkout's problem is that people have to overcome many barriers before using the service. And to do that they need to be really determined to use Google Checkout.

The benefits to users are many, including a central place to manage all your online purchases, added protection from someone fraudulently using your credit card, and limiting the chance for commercial spam. While this objective remains a noble one, its current incarnation of creating a parallel and optional path for users means a disjointed experience. The benefits of Google Checkout are only truly realized with an all or nothing approach. But getting there might be difficult given the customer experience kinks it has to overcome.

The author finds it strange that you should follow the Google Checkout badge, which may not always be very visible. Most people will choose the default checkout option because it may appear more convenient. They'll also ask questions like: "Who would I call for customer service issues? Where can I track my order or shipping? If I have a payment question or want a refund, where do I go?"

While the many benefits of Google Checkout outweigh its issues, the challenge of Google Checkout is one of adoption, data integration, branding, and how to provide a seamless customer experience. Having it as an optional add-on checkout option, however, raises the interesting prospect of increasing the confusion quotient, which was the original impetus for the need for Google Checkout.

So Google's main challenges would be to increase Google Checkout's awareness and to make the checkout experience better once you decided you want to use Google Checkout (a plug-in or a Google Toolbar option could help). Google is already heavily promoting Checkout in its shopping search engine.

Google launched last year a payment system called Google Checkout, but eBay refused to accept it as an alternative for its own PayPal because Google didn't have a "substantial historical track record of providing safe and reliable financial and/or banking related services".

Two weeks ago, Google Checkout team tried to make an appearance at the eBay Live event to celebrate user choice and to convince eBay to accept Google Checkout as a payment method. But eBay is a major AdWords advertiser, so it decided to use its biggest weapon and dropped all the US ads from Google. The move was pretty unexpected and Google quickly canceled the event: "eBay Live attendees have plenty of activities to keep them busy this week in Boston, and we did not want to detract from that activity. After speaking with officials at eBay, we at Google agreed that it was better for us not to feature this event during the eBay Live conference."

After 10 days, eBay resumed the ad campaign, but not without proclaiming the independence from Google. "I will tell you it will be in a much more limited way than it was before. What we found is that we were not as dependent on AdWords as some people thought," said an eBay spokesman. New York Times reports that eBay will buy more ads from Google's competitors, including Yahoo and Microsoft. Hopefully they won't advertise for dead people, murderers or nuns.

It's so sad to live in a divided world where companies try to be better than their rivals by imitating everything the rival does. Yahoo's lack of creativity is proven by the latest partnership with PayPal to counter Google Checkout, which gained some traction thanks to Google's aggressive promotions.

"With the Yahoo! PayPal Checkout Program, a blue shopping cart icon appears next to your ad in Yahoo! search results. This can help your ad stand out, and let customers know you offer PayPal Express Checkout, from the brand known for security."

PayPal offers free processing until the end of the year, like Google. But there's more:

"The ability to quickly locate PayPal merchants will save you some time because the PayPal checkout system remembers all of your personal information, providing you (and me) with the convenience of a single username and password, as well as a consolidated look at your transaction history so you can view all of your purchases and track each items' shipping progress."

This seems pretty familiar, isn't it? Here's a fragment from a Google post written after Google Checkout's launch, in June last year:

"One cool feature of Google Checkout is that you can buy from stores with a single Google login – no more entering the same info each time you buy, and no more having to remember different usernames and passwords for each store. To help you find places to shop, you'll see a little icon on the Google.com ads of stores offering Google Checkout. It's an easy way to identify fast, secure places to shop when you search. And after you've placed your order, Google Checkout provides a purchase history where you can track your orders and shipping information in one place."


This is only about ads, Google and Yahoo have many common advertisers and there are some merchants who use both PayPal and Google Checkout. Google forgot about users' choices to promote Google Checkout, while Yahoo is always on Google's footsteps and replicates every new feature or product.

This year Google has a big mission: make Google Checkout successful. They tried a lot of things: making payment processing free for sellers in 2007, giving $10 to anyone who uses the service for the first time, integrating with Froogle and showing small icons next to the ads for products that can be bought using Google Checkout.

Now Google tests something that will definitely attract your attention, in case you were not aware of this Checkout thing: replacing the small icons with big buttons under the Google ads.

Here's an incomplete evolution of the way Google promotes Checkout in the AdWords section:


{ Thank you, Ted P. }

Update (February 13): Google announces that the big badges are here to stay. "We expect the new image to help shoppers more easily identify Google Checkout merchants. We're also putting the shopping cart badge on ads in the Google advertising network."

The new Google Checkout site created for holidays is now live and includes a small selection of colorful, popular gifts. Google says thousands of merchants accept Google Checkout and, using this payment system, you'll eliminate 15 steps, on average. Another incentive is that you'll get $10 off purchases of $30, or $20 off purchases of $50 and more. You can also go to that site to make donations to charities: for the first donation of $30 or more, Google adds $10.

These days, Google Checkout is almost everywhere. Let's recap a list of places where you might see Checkout's shopping cart:

* searching for products, you'll see a Froogle OneBox and a link to products that can be bought using Checkout.


* you may see Google ads that have a small shopping cart.

* stores that accept Checkout and search results that can be bought from these stores are clearly marked at Froogle.

* many stores show a "Google Checkout" option.

Update: John Battelle had a bad experience with Google Checkout and took a closer look at the privacy policy.

I don't know why, but every news about Google Checkout has something ridiculous and earthly. But the latest news is just too much: "According to a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Google Checkout, 40% of employed U.S. adults say they'll be doing at least some of their online holiday shopping from work this year, with 1 in 4 of those shoppers logging on to track down that perfect gift on Monday, November 27 (57% plan to shop during coffee and lunch breaks, while 34% will wait until the end of the workday)." So 10% of employed U.S. adults will try to find the perfect gift on Monday, November 27. And Google decided to launch a version of Checkout for holidays on Monday to capitalize on this. Buyers will get $10 off purchases of $30, or $20 off purchases of $50, while sellers get free processing. And everyone will be happy. Google executives thought this holidays are the last chance for Google Checkout and they'll do everything to make their product successful. "Trying to squeeze online holiday shopping into already busy schedules, shoppers will be looking for even more speed and convenience this year. And while there are many online shopping options to make finding the right gift relatively easy, online shoppers still have to deal with hassles, such as entering billing, shipping, and contact information multiple times as they move from site to site. Google Checkout eliminates an average of 15 steps from the online checkout process, in many cases making checking out as simple as entering a single login. This can save a lot of time for online shoppers, who will visit an average of 5.5 websites for holiday gifts this season, according to the survey." Squeeze, shoppers, hassle. More speed, convenience. Happy holidays!

The rumors have been confirmed. From November 8 through December 31, those who use Google Checkout to sell their products will get free processing. This comes just in time for the holidays and will definitely attract more stores to Google Checkout.

In case you forgot about Checkout, this post and the next video may remind you:

It's not official, but Google plans to offer another discount for Google Checkout. This time, Google will offer free payment processing until the end of the year, for sellers that create an account at this page. Normally, sellers pay 2% plus $.20 per transaction. Google Checkout, launched in June as a way to buy things faster and safer, didn't have a big success, so Google had to continually push the product with all kinds of promotions. Also many users had problems using the service. This move will attract many online stores and the product may finally get some praises, if Google fixed their problems and improved the customer support. So if your favorite online store decides to accept Google Checkout, will you use it? { Via Andy Beal. }

Update: it's official.

If you search for a product on Froogle, you'll notice a new item in the list of stores: "Google Checkout Stores". Google didn't create a special store, it just lists all the products that can be bought using Google Checkout.

There's also a Google Checkout logo at the bottom of the page: "Google - Accepts Google Checkout". Google wants to make their new service more visible, hoping that more online stores will use it.

Google Checkout seems to have some problems. Kirby Witmer complained about them...

I placed an order with Buy.com on July 7, 2006. No problem, very slick. I received an e-mail from both Google and Buy.com thanking me for my order. Days came and went, and I kept checking the status of the order and always it said “In progress”. It was an in-stock item as far as I know, and Buy.com has always been very prompt in my experiences with them, so this was strange. So finally, on July 11th I sent an e-mail using the send message to seller wizard in Google Checkout. No response. Not even an automated reply.

... and got a lot of presents from Google (USB sticks, mouse, pens and many other promotional materials).

Someone from Google Checkout promises on Google Groups that the service will be improved and updated soon:

Hi everyone,

Things have been very busy here at Google Checkout and we're excited
about all the interest.

The first thing I'd like to talk about is orders in "Reviewing." I know
there's frustration about the delays due to the order review process.
So you understand the background here, Google Checkout is committed to
fighting fraud and minimizing the risk that both buyers and sellers
face when processing transactions over the internet. At times it may
seem we are overly cautious, especially when an order from someone you
know personally is being held up. We are working as fast as possible to
fix this issue. The good news is that we have some upcoming changes
which will both speed up the review process and make it more effective
at filtering out the bad guys.

GoogleCheckoutPro

AuctionBytes discovered that eBay bans sellers from using Google Checkout to request payment. One of their official reasons is that Google Checkout doesn't have a "substantial historical track record of providing safe and reliable financial and/or banking related services." Google says they had a lot of experience from AdWords and Video Store payments. It's interesting to note that eBay accepts "PayPal, credit cards including MasterCard/Visa /Amex/Discover, debit cards and bank electronic payments online for eBay purchases". Google Checkout is just like using the credit card, but through a Google proxy (that removes personal information and helps you if you don't trust an online store).

In a related note, Reuters reports that PayPal President Jeff Jordan will leave the company in the following months "to spend more time with his family". He must've come with a better reason than that.

While eBay tries to face the increasing competition with anti-competitive practices, Google has a much more relaxed attitude and says "We want to work with everybody".

Related:
Google Checkout review
Former PayPal engineer predicts Google's end

They don't use it because they like Google Checkout or they want to promote it, but eBay probably felt their AdWords ads would be less competitive if they don't use it. And, besides, Buy.com has the funny logo. eBay continues to have meaningless ads that use templates. If you search for [ebay buy.com] on Google, the first result has this description:

Buy Buy.com, Vintage Sports Memorabilia items on eBay.

Related:
Everything for sale on eBay
Google Checkout

A former PayPal engineer wrote an interesting piece about Google Checkout: 5 Reasons Why Google Checkout Is the Beginning of the End. He thinks that Google shouldn't have launched this kind of service because:

* Google is not able to combat fraud.
* Google launches too many products, so it can't handle payment processing.
* Google is bad at customer service: they mostly use automated emails.
"The sad truth is that customers are not patient or understanding when it comes to money. All but the most enlightened of them are irrational and paranoid."
* Google finally picked the wrong battle.
* This failure will cause their best engineers to leave.

The article's tone is way too catastrophic, but it makes two good points: Google should improve their customer service and they should prepared for online fraud.

Here's an example of bad customer service from Google:

From: "Dave Taylor"
Subject: Ad Problems
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 2005 02:22:24 -0000

I can't tell if I've inserted the code into my RSS feed incorrectly or not, but I have been receiving reports that clicking on the ads in my feeds generates a 'you don't have cookies enabled' error for users, even when they DO have cookies enabled. Reluctantly, I tried clicking on an ad myself (Safari, Mac OS X 10.3.8, no security, cookies for "All sites" enabled) and I also see the same error message. What's wrong with my code? The ads I see in my aggregator from *other* AdSense for feeds sites work just fine.

Thanks for your help!

Three and a half months later...

Hello Dave,

We're sorry that we weren't able to address your email in a timely manner. If you're still experiencing difficulties with your ads please don't hesitate to contact us again.

Sincerely,

Stefania
The Google AdSense Team

Related:
Google Checkout launched
Google's mission to be completed in 300 years

In other news:
A PayPal employee wrote a blog post about Google Checkout and the removed it. The post starts with: "I find it amusing how the general media is claiming GBuy will be a significant competitor to Paypal based on GBuy having near zero buyers actually using the service vs over 100MM using Paypal." You can read the recovered text.

Google has a very strict policy regarding items that can be sold using Google Checkout. Here's what you can't buy:

Body parts - Organs or other body parts

Cable descramblers and black boxes - Devices intended to obtain cable and satellite signals for free

Copyrighted media - Unauthorized copies of books, music, movies, and other licensed or protected materials

Drugs and drug paraphernalia - Illegal drugs and drug accessories, including herbal drugs such as salvia and magic mushrooms

Endangered species - Plants, animals or other organisms (including product derivatives) in danger of extinction

Occult goods - Materials, goods or paraphernalia for use in satanic, sacrificial, or related practices

Prescription drugs or pharmacies - Drugs or other products requiring a prescription by a licensed medical practitioner or any online pharmacies

Weapons - Firearms, ammunition, knives, brass knuckles, gun parts, and other armaments

... and many more.

{ Via Digg. }

"By integrating the checkout process with search and advertising, we're helping our users complete the cycle of searching, finding and buying," said Salar Kamangar, Vice President of Product Management at Google, about Google Checkout, the online payment system launched today.

Easier for buyers

How to find products you can buy with Google Checkout?

Google a product you want to buy and look for ads similar to this one:



Or visit your favorite store and look for this sign (or a similar one):


Why should you use Google Checkout?
You don't have to remember the username and password for each account you create to buy products. You just enter your Google Accounts credentials.

What credit cards does Checkout accept?
Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

Do you have to be in the US to use it?
The TOS says you must be:
* 18 years old or older;
* capable of entering into a legally binding agreement; and
* a resident of the United States

What stores accept Google Checkout for now?
You can find a list of stores here (link available only in the US): Timberland, Levi's, Starbucks Store, Buy.com and more.

More cost-effective for sellers

How much merchants have to pay to Google?
If they are AdWords advertisers, for every $1 spent, they can process $10 in sales for free through Google Checkout. If advertisers exceed their free transaction processing for the month, they'll only be charged 2% plus $.20 per transaction.
If they don't advertise with AdWords, they'll pay 2% plus $.20 per transaction.

How difficult is to integrate Google Checkout into a site?
You can use a simple "Buy Now" button if you don't need a shopping cart or you can try Google Checkout API to integrate Google Checkout into your shopping cart.

Does Google Checkout allows customers' feedback?
After receiving a product, buyers can rate it from one star to five stars and make comments to describe the transaction, purchasing and delivery process.

I don't have a site. Can I sell products using Google Checkout?
You can sell your products on Google Base. It's really easy to use and your products can come up on top of the search results (in Google OneBox results).

Google Checkout is not a PayPal competitor, it's just the perfect complement for AdWords. Advertisers can now outsource transaction processing, pay for sells instead of clicks and give more information about shopping preferences to Google.

Related:
Google Checkout Screenshots
More answered questions.

Can anyone from the US confirm the system actually works?

Google Checkout is the new service that will let you buy products directly from the Google ads. Here are some screenshots that show the new ads, the badge you'll see on merchant's sites, how do you place and track your orders.







Also see a video tour of Google Checkout and a presentation for online sellers. Google Checkout for online merchants is already live at https://checkout.google.com/sell.

Here's the logo:


Update: Google Checkout is now live.