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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  1. identicon
    Craig, 29 Jun 2006 @ 10:04am

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2006 @ 10:27am

    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...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Charlie G., 29 Jun 2006 @ 10:28am

    Anti-trust?

    I like the idea, but am wondering if they're opening themselves up to anti-trust violations. IANA lawyer, but if they're using their position in the search/ad market to influence vendors to use Checkout, I smell lawsuit.
    But you know what? I'd probably use it.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Posterlogo, 29 Jun 2006 @ 10:30am

    You must be joking with the sarcasm...

    Nice headline: "Google Releases Product That Actually Could Make Money". As if you don't wisk you were part of the Google behemoth or owned some of their stock. If you think they NEEDED this to make money, you've been living in a cave.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    keepin' it real, 29 Jun 2006 @ 10:44am

    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?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    bmac (profile), 29 Jun 2006 @ 10:48am

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Sean, 29 Jun 2006 @ 11:17am

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Dale, 29 Jun 2006 @ 11:27am

    That's true about Amazon.com

    It really only recently occurred to me, but I am an example of someone who always tries to buy stuff through amazon.com because (1) I don't have to enter my credit card info and (2) it narrows the range of vendors that HAVE my credit card info.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2006 @ 11:38am

    After all the fraud I've had to deal with on E-bay, and the crap I've had to put up with through Paypal I'm happy there is just another choice for me to take my business. So long as google doesn't "suspect" problems with my account and hold my funds "indefinitely" then I'll be happy to use their service.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Cynical Monkey, 29 Jun 2006 @ 11:39am

    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?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Cynical Monkey, 29 Jun 2006 @ 11:48am

    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?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Skippy the Squirrel, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:04pm

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Zeroth404, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:12pm

    all I know is that Amazon usually has stuff cheaper :-)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    Ted Bailes, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:30pm

    Google Checkout and Real Estate

    Thinking Ahead:

    Soon Realtors and For Sale By Owners will list homes for sale on Google Base and accept earnest money using Google Checkout.

    Things are Changing Fast!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:33pm

    Yeah, if nothing else Paypal's idiotic policies make me look forward to this.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:46pm

    Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

    send your comment to the google engineers so they know that you care. they probably won't see it here, so send it to them and be heard!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Cynical Monkey, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:56pm

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    snitsrevenge, 29 Jun 2006 @ 12:56pm

    Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

    I think they are afraid to screw up a good thing. Kind of like Coca-Cola did when they came out with their New Coke in the 80s.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Alen3000, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:06pm

    Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

    http//google.com/coop .There are a lot of improvements but are still in an early beta stage and therefore are find only at the labs

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:21pm

    Re: Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

    coke came out with new coke to mask its change from sugar to HIGH FRUCOTOSE CORN SYRUP


    Yuck

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Joe, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:52pm

    Personalized Search

    If you're logged in to your Google account, there is a Personalized Search (beta) feature. You don't specifically tell them which results are bogus, but you remove results that you consider bogus and it tries to give you more relevant results in the future.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Aaron, 29 Jun 2006 @ 1:55pm

    Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

    They don't need that because they figure if you CLICK on the result then that means it was probably helpful. The fact that you didn't click means that they feel fairly certain it was a failed search.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Cynical Monkey, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:11pm

    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)."

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:18pm

    I use google tools almost every day.

    I still am going to laugh though when gmail profiles get stolen. And the newspaper ads, "I have been a victom of google fraud." :)

    Atleast I have more faith in them than their competition.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. identicon
    Michael, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:21pm

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Jonboy, 29 Jun 2006 @ 2:21pm

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    Troy, 29 Jun 2006 @ 7:18pm

    Re: Hasn't Google forgotten its mission?

    Google is constantly hiring individuals who do rate query returns.
    http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/topic.py?loc_id=1628&dep_id=1094

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. identicon
    Nicholas, 30 Jun 2006 @ 6:36am

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. identicon
    Robert, 30 Jun 2006 @ 8:35am

    PayPal Killer??? NOT!

    The only way this will become a PayPal killer is if eBay starts letting you pay (easily) with Google Checkout, and THAT is NOT going to happen!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. identicon
    Webdawg, 5 Jul 2006 @ 11:55pm

    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.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. identicon
    MaxTheITpro, 19 Aug 2006 @ 10:17pm

    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!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. identicon
    fazendo_Justiça, 6 Sep 2014 @ 9:00pm

    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!

    link to this | view in thread ]


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