Google Checkout is now live

and merchants don't get customer email addresses or cc info

[robsnell]

Google Checkout is now live and I just signed up. Hey! I wonder if Google Checkout will work with all my Yahoo! Stores?

[checkout.google.com...]

A few things I noticed while signing up:

At first blush, it looks a whole lot more like the back end of Yahoo! Store than like PayPal (to me), but I don't use PayPal as a merchant bank.

Last month's AdWords spend defrays your credit card percentage on GC orders, so it's like getting a 20% rebate on your advertising.

The Google Checkout ICON will appear by your Google AdWords ad, not your organic search, which separates editorial from advertising.

Your customers' credit card statements will show the charge from Google + {Your Business Name}.

Merchants have to post shipping and returns policies as well as URLS to your FAQ and policy pages on your own Google Checkout pages.

Google doesn't share customer info (email / credit card numbers) with the merchant so shoppers may feel more comfortable shopping online.

There are all kinds of links to things like the HELP section and a GOOGLE GROUPS that don't work quite yet, but I'll poke around a bit more and see what I can see.

More in a bit. Things just got a whole bunch more interesting in E-commerce-ville, folks!

Rob Snell
(Somewhere in rural Mississippi)

[Essex_boy]

I like this! Come on now launch it world wide and make it person to person.

[jkouyoumjian]

Has anyone noticed that Google does not give merchants full details about buyers?

Here is a quote from Section 7 of the Terms of Service:

"Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, Seller shall hold confidential and shall not use, transmit (including for the purpose of sending unsolicited communications), or use such Buyer Information (as defined in the Data Usage Policy), except as provided in the data usage policy (as may be updated from time to time) (the “Data Usage Policy”). "

The "Data Usage Policy" link returns a 404 error, so we can't be sure yet what the terms are.

I have read elsewhere that they will only give the name and address of the customer, but not the credit card number or email address.

I don't want Google telling me how I can interact with my customers. They are my customers, after all and I spend a lot of time and money to acquire them. Contacting prior customers to sell additional services is the basis of any successful business.

Like a previous poster in this thread, I think the amount of information Google is collecting about buyers and sellers is tremendous and will have great value. Shouldn't Google be paying me?

Google is asking too much to do something that is done by dozens of other companies for similar prices.

[whoisgregg]

[Google] will only give the name and address of the customer, but not the credit card number or email address

Yes, but your customer can give you their email address, if the customer wants you to have it.

[whoisgregg]

I expected Google to provide a PHP or Perl example script (which I have not found yet)

[code.google.com...]

[jkouyoumjian]

Doing business with someone who is hiding who they really are is a serious risk.

If both buyer and seller are to act in good faith, there must full disclosure and transparency on both sides.

If a buyer cannot trust a seller to use their personal information appropriately, then they should not be doing business with that seller.

[mimmson]

I currently use Cube C_rt. Is there a way to integrae this, or would I need to add a button for each and every product?