Google Releases Product That Actually Could Make Money

from the first-time-for-everything dept

There’s a lot of talk today about Google releasing its long-awaited PayPal killer, dubbed Google Checkout. On the surface, it looks very much like the various e-wallet endeavors that launched and failed in the 90’s. But the idea of not having to fill out credit card information at every online store does hold some appeal, and Google may have a shot at making it work. For one thing, their large advertising base gives them a natural group of companies to sell the service into, something the other companies never had. To exploit this, the Google is offering rebates to companies that advertise and use Checkout. This is pretty clever; it’s generally hard to give discounts on auction-based ads. If they were to, say, give an across the board 10% rebate to advertisers, the price of buying ads would just jump up accordingly. But by giving a slight edge to those who use Checkout, they may create a rush among companies to sign up for it. Another way of thinking about it is that it’s less of a PayPal killer than it is an Amazon killer. One of Amazon’s main selling points is the convenience it offers consumers. If Checkout enables similar convenience across the web, it may reduce Amazon’s appeal. So far, Google’s had only minimal success with its non-search busines, but Checkout’s clear revenue model and tie-in with an existing services could allow it to actually succeed.


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Comments on “Google Releases Product That Actually Could Make Money”

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32 Comments
Craig (user link) says:

I'm skeptical

While I regularly cheer on Google’s efforts, I don’t hold out much hope that this will be widely adopted, either by consumers or vendors. Microsoft had an awful time with its Passport system back when, and I don’t think things have changed enough to make a similar offering significantly more successful. But we’ll see. Either way, it’s good news — more competition and innovation is generally a good thing in the end for us consumers.

Anonymous Coward says:

I think this effort from google will be a big hit. I just created my own webpage from google pages, listed my inventory and dropped in the code for google checkout. Beats all the effort needed by fleabay and paypoo….

All along I’ve very indifferent to google’s offerings but I can see how everything is coming together now.

There’s a difference between Passport and google. Passport was brought in an era when there was no effort to offer such integrated services. But google has now shown the way…

keepin' it real says:

You must be joking with your post...

The sarcasm works. I guess you just don’t understand the scenario. Google has a whole host of products…which make them zero money. The vast majority of the money they make, something like 85%-90% is from companies paying for advertising. So Posterlogo…you’re comments are pretty offbase and don’t make a whole lot of sense. So who’s been living in a cave again?

bmac (profile) says:

Passport is no Google

The main difference is that Google is a part of the language and culture, as in “Let me google that”, or “I googled for it and found what I wanted”. “Let me MSN search for that” doesn’t have a chance in hades of catching on.

Microsoft passport came at a time when most people were still too scared to trust their credit card information to a web site. Now it’s generally considered safer than using it over the phone or in person in a store.

Ebay, Amazon, stick a fork in yourselves, you’re almost done. I love Google’s stuff and will definitely use this one.

Sean (user link) says:

Well now.

This seems like it could actually give the kick in the ass to PayPal and Amazon. Which could actually be good. If like Anonymous Coward says and you can just plug in a bnch of shit and it makes you a code to put into your website is true, well fuck I would use it. Makes my life easier.

Seems like Google could make a pretty penny off this idea too. Good job Google, keeping us with some good products!

That’s my two cents.

Cynical Monkey says:

Why don't people like Amazon?

I noticed some posts cheering the possibility of Google Checkout causing trouble for Ebay and Amazon. I do resent Ebay’s nickle-and-dime fee schedule, but I admire Amazon for listing used products from 3rd-party sellers, who in fact compete with Amazon’s own products.

So I was wondering, why don’t you like Amazon?

Cynical Monkey says:

Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

One more thing. With every new thing that Google releases, I keep wondering, how long has it been since Google actually improved its search capabilities? How long has it been since Google has offered new search experience?

It’s not that hard to improve it. For example, today I wanted to find some articles for reducing subcutaneous fat level for bodybuilders (to get that competition look). Top results by far were sites pushing weight loss products/videos/programs. None of them contained any useful information.

Now, how hard would it be for Google to add two buttons to each link returned, asking “Was this result useful? Yes/No.” I could mark the BS results and presumably so could other users, telling Google not to return those links.

This is just one example. I am sure that Google’s brainy employees could come up with lots of other improvements to try out. My question is, why don’t they?

Skippy the Squirrel says:

Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

My guess is those top hits you are referring to have payed Google to be in the top spot. It is pretty easy to spot those by either the address or description. I try to never click those because it gives validation to this kind of practice. Google is a great search engine. I’m jacked they will have other sources of income to hopefully curtail some of the payed adds.

Jonboy (user link) says:

Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

“Now, how hard would it be for Google to add two buttons to each link returned, asking “Was this result useful? Yes/No.” I could mark the BS results and presumably so could other users, telling Google not to return those links.”

Do you know how many assholes out there would think it was funny by marking links bad, that are actually helpful? ( I could see competitors doing this to eachother). There are millions of searches done everyday. Do you think they can monitor this feedback on a consistant basis. Although this would be a perfect solution to create an ideal search query result, this just doesnt seem feasible.

Nicholas says:

Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

Actually, Google does do that. If you read the short description, and click the link, Google assumes it was helpful and uses that information to adjust the page-rank. The results that are clicked the most for any particular query will be shown higher than those that are never clicked.

Cynical Monkey says:

RE: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

Clarification to Skippy the Squirrel: No, no, I wasn’t talking about the sponsored links on Google. C’mon, we all know how to use google by now 🙂

I was talking about the actual, non-sponsored results, which were mostly junk. I had to look through them to ascertain that they were junk. Why do other users need to do the same thing? That was my point. Google needs to keep improving their search capabilities, which they are not doing.

Cynical Monkey says:

RE: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

Aaron, that’s exactly my point. If I clicked a link on the search results page, then there might be useful information on that page. There MIGHT be. Often there isn’t. That’s why users go back and forth between search results and the actual pages to find out what’s useful and what is not. That is manual filtering in addition to Google’s.

I maintain that Google can easily take this one step further and capture what the user thought after he/she visited the actual page. Was it indeed useful? The user did the work, read the page. Google can offer a way to capture the result then pass it on to other users. Amazon does that with reviews. They ask, “was this review helpful? (yes/no).” Why can’t Google ask, “was this page useful to your query? (yes/no).”

Michael says:

Just a thought:

You know, is anyone else curious to see how fast phishing attempts and hack attempts on google are going to come flying? especially now that there’s a huge chance of getting credit information….

I mean .. click fraud on textual links is one thing…

However, I’m not using my CC on google check out until it has proven itself in battle for a few.

Webdawg says:

Google Checkout is nothing like PayPal

Everyone is assuming Google Checkout is a payment system. It is not. Google Checkout transfers the entire shopping cart contents from a store onto Google’s site. Google wants to be the checkout system for every store on the internet… for obvious reasons. This is not a payment gateway. You can not send money. The interface only supports basic products and is a bit unintuitive. PayPal, on the other hand, is an extremely useful service for sending and receiving payments. They are a gateway, meaning you can use them to process payments seamlessly from any website. Unfortunately, Google checkout is not a complex ecommerce system and not a payments system either. It is going to force stores to accommodate them because people are screaming for “Gooooooooogle”. In the end, the customers will be disappointed when they realize Google Checkout does not unite or integrate the shopping experience. It is designed to sell more ads, down to the very last peace of real estate they could carve up.

MaxTheITpro (user link) says:

Go Google go!

This is GREAT news because Google has 2 thing that most other web companies crave:
Trust & goodwill. I’ve heard nightmares about PayPal, but I truly believe
people (vendors, shoppers, etc.) are rooting for Google. Yes, I’ve been peeved
at times with Blogger (erors in editor) and GMail (slow once in a blue moon),
but overall I applaud their efforts. I definitely look forward to getting in on
this Checkout thingy. Most importantly, I hope
they don’t ignore eCommerce vendors here in Africa
as things
are really starting to heat up
– big time…especially in East Africa (Kenya,
Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda). PayPal ignored this region; hopefully the Big G doesn’t.
BTW, I am also very impressed with Amazon’s service offerings. They have, by far,
the BEST customer experience on the planet when it comes online shopping and customer
service. I hope to emmulate some of these features for our upcoming eBuisness
web portal here in East Africa. Stay tuned!

fazendo_Justiça says:

Gaston Schwabacher e Seu Invento Eletronic Wallet or Google Wallet

Encarecidamente não eve na brincadeira isso é serio muito serio! Gaston Schwabacher
Leia e entenda.
Assista, Share Compartilhe
http://youtu.be/lgL-iHBVF64

Por favor, informe a: Lawrence Edward Page , Sergey Brin Mihailovich, e a
outras pessoas e instituições financeiras, econômicas, operadoras, etc,
etc

Digital Wallet, Eletronic wallet ou Google Wallet, propriedade intelectual de
Gaston Schwabacher, número de patente PI9500345.

Gaston Schwabacher não tem detectado em sua conta depósito a respeito de
Royalties de seus direitos Intelectuais, direitos autorais.

Sem tirar os méritos do Google e de outros, do bom funcionamento do invento de
Gaston Schwabacher, e por conseqüência dos ganhos de terceiros por usar,
negociar o inventor Gaston Schwabacher deve receber por inventar, Criar a
Eletronic Wallet, Digital Wallet , Google Wallet ou seja, uma parceria
justa e moralmente ética.

Esperamos não só ver, assistir um grande numero de diretores e relações publica
de empresas cada um falando de seu produto, como a tão falada Wallet Digital,
Wallet Eletronic tivesse brotado na natureza, produziu frutos dai cada um
descasca, usa e vende como se a eles pertencesse, até artistas, celebridades
são convidados, contratados para divulgar a grande idéia, sem mencionar o
verdadeiro inventor Gaston Schwabacher o verdadeiro dono intelectual de todas
Wallets, Carteiras Eletrônicas os para não haver duvidas da função foi
registrado no próprio titulo do invento consta a denominação Pagador e
Recebedor Eletrônico, agora podem dar a denominação, apelido que derem,
via internet e celular ou qualquer meio, físico, digital, eletrônicos ou
biológico a esta idéia, queiram ou não queiram a idéia, a patente
pertence a Gaston Schwabacher, podem ate como cúmplices negarem o pagamento com
inúmeras desculpas mas se isto importa para honesto, isto é uma grade
desonestidade.

O inventor Gaston Schwabacher não critica o uso, as novidades, mas quer receber
seus Royalties pelo seu invento. Para este registro foram pagos taxas, teve um
período de sigilo onde o órgão oficial, para assegurar a veracidade, ou que
alguém no mesmo período pudesse reclamar direitos indevidamente sobre uma
criação absolutamente inédita e de grandioso valor, antes do relatório e anexos
serem publicados, ou seja, posto a conhecimento publico, tem um documento
oficial de um órgão publico de uma nação que todos devem respeitar sua
soberania, principalmente as nações amigas, parceiras e que são muitas, se não
todas deste planeta. e por ter noção da grandiosidade deste invento o inventor
Gaston Schwabacher registrou no Ministério das Relações Exteriores Itamaraty
como um produto de exportação que se tornou mais um comprovante da autoria do
invento, fez um pedido apoio ao consulado suíço para demonstrar a idéia em
genebra – Suíça.

Então se contar tudo isto Gaston Schwabacher tem em mãos alheias pelo uso de
sua patente numero PI9500345 alguns bilhões de Dólares, Euros.

Sendo assim Gaston Schwabacher é um Bilionário que ainda não recebeu,
repetindo, que ainda não recebeu seus direitos de patente seus direitos sobre
uma propriedade intelectual da patente PI9500345, repetindo assegurada por uma
identidade de sua existência antes de qualquer habitante desse planeta, ao
menos imaginar esta grande idéia.

Gaston Schwabacher vai ficar na história, ou melhor, já esta na história como o
inventor da Eletronic Wallet, Carteira Eletrônica, Pagador e Recebedor
Eletrônico, Google Wallet ou o nome que apelidarem a estes meios, sistemas,
dispositivos de pagamentos e recebimentos e não só por esta patente PI9500345 mas por outras mais ou menos 150 criações, inventos e negócios inéditos, muitos destes poderão ser negociados e usados
pelo Google.

Se tudo isto pareceu rude, não foi a intenção, a intenção foi mostrar a verdade, pedir o que é justo.

Sejam felizes!

Bedankt voor Space!
Obrigado Pelo Espaço!
Спасибо за места!
Danke für den Raum!
Thanks for Space!

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