Google Checkout & Affiliate Marketing

[Qui Gon Jinn]

OK ... for a balanced perspective .. wrt the other more popular payment solutions are they compatible with the various forms of tracking employed by networks? ...

Perhaps zero customer service to the "general public" will illustrate another part of Google's soft underbelly?

imho there is already a bigger picture, but i guess this will soon become apparent.

[buspassjohn]

It looks to me that Google is aiming to become the world's biggest affiliate marketer, I understand they already have working (on trial?) PPA in the US, so will possibly use this to offer the Checkout merchants a low conversion percentage charge in addition or instead of adwords PPC.
The more merchants that sign up for Checkout, the sooner they can make it a reality, merchants with a large order flow via Google will not want to jeopardise their business by refusing Google PPA (sale) and the merchants that stay away from Checkout will have an increasingly difficult time.
There is no doubt that Google can make or break any but the biggest and most established merchant, whether we like to face that fact or not. The time when any competition could stand up to Google search is long past.

We are not implementing Google Checkout at present. the merchants in our sector that have adopted it are not really competition to us; until our real competitors use Google Checkout, we will sit on the fence. I think that GC would be profitable for us but I'm very concerned about the Big Google aspect.
Incidentally, Paypal is allegedly offering all sorts of incentives for merchants not to take up Google Checkout, hopefully they'll throw some my way!!

[TeeAddict]

I read that google is going to offer a deal to advertisers, if your spend with adwords is at least £1000 per month, they will offer £10,000 of processing value through google checkout for free. Makes competitive sense! pretty much makes it harder for any competition

I dont know wether its happening already but it would be a good reason to why so many of the bigger retailers are switching and/or offering google checkout. Although its free now this good be a good tactic for securing google future in the payment processing industry.

[Helen]

I agree with Jess, I think merchants are being blinded by incentives. The transaction fees certainly give paypal a run for their money but at what cost?

Comparing paypal against Google Checkout, I have to say that I would stick with Paypal no matter what incentive Google give me.

When you read through the agreements paypal seems to side with the seller and google on the side of the buyer. Well if I was a retailer I know which payment processor I would want on my side!

Here is just one example....chargebacks!

As part of Google's Chargeback Resolution Policy, Google will evaluate all chargebacks you receive and, whenever possible, fight them on your behalf. If the chargeback is successfully disputed, Google will reimburse you.

V

Paypal has a standard practice to dispute unwarranted chargebacks on a seller's behalf. Although the decision in a chargeback case is ultimately made by the buyer's card issuer, PayPal's team of chargeback specialists can help sellers respond to chargebacks and present their cases effectively. Also, if a transaction meets the terms of the Seller Protection Policy, PayPal covers the seller against financial loss from unauthorised or non-receipt chargebacks.



Helen x