Forum Moderators: martinibuster
Today we're excited to announce that in addition to AdSense, AdWords, Firefox with Google Toolbar, and Google Pack, you can now refer your users to Google Checkout through AdSense.
[adsense.blogspot.com...]
[edited by: encyclo at 3:31 pm (utc) on Mar. 23, 2007]
[edit reason] fixed link [/edit]
... because this time it's OUR [google.com] affiliate program :)
Wow, $1.00.
My thoughts too.... do they want this thing to work - come on G stop being so b%^&*y tight with your billions - you never know you might make some more...
They should also pay the adsense publisher the same bonus if they include a google checkout icon in adsense and a user signs up.
[edited by: jcoronella at 3:27 pm (utc) on Mar. 23, 2007]
A $1 payout is too low for either, though.
Think of it, if a customer wants to buy something thats $10 on a eccomerce site, they basically get it for free....
We use google check out on our eccommerce sites.
I have no idea WHY, other than being cheapskates as it's free until 2008, that any merchant would want to use Google Checkout and surrender total control of the customer information to Google. Once you lose control of the customer then your AdWords spending is almost a guaranteed necessity.
Crazy stuff.
I'll stick with my current merchant account and won't be encouraging others to step off the cliff either.
i havent used checkout nor am eligible for it so dont know how it works exactly
One of the basic stuff which i would want to have is emailing customers from time to time and getting some more leads , am not sure if its possible with G checkout
We also use a merchant account as well. We give customers a choice.
Its a myth that you do not have your customer information! In the google check out panel you have their name and address. Also, when the customer signs up, they have the option to show their email address to you. Plus you can download the information as well.
Bill, keep in mind that not all customers like giving out their email address to merchants. I know when I buy something from toys-r- us for a birthday. I do not want to get weekly spam specials emailed to me by toys-r-us. So I hide my email address. So its nice and it gives your consumer a choice.
Also, we have seen a very large increase in convesions. People see that google name and they trust merchants who use it.
[edited by: trinorthlighting at 4:20 pm (utc) on Mar. 23, 2007]
I frankly just can't use their tools for that very reason. To me, using their tools is irresponsible as a business owner. After all whom else would you knowingly give your sales data to? ... so it can be used 'against' you? No way. Just say no.
So bill, you might be missing out on a lot of orders because there are some people in the world who like to hide their email address.
[webmasterworld.com...]
Google is a marketing company. They are interested in you only as far as you are profitable to them as a customer. If the information you give them (or enable them to get from your customers, whatever) shows them a profitable way to cut you out of the picture then any business would do so.
Be careful who you give your customers to.
So bill, you might be missing out on a lot of orders because there are some people in the world who like to hide their email address.
I've been in ecommerce since '96 and people that want to hide their email address throw up red flags - usually fraudulent sales.
Maybe you'll get an increase in sales now but to what end?
Google is a marketing company. Is your sales information going to ultimately end up in the hand of other AdWords advertisers, or worse yet, become the basis for AdWords advertising to increase in price for more popular products now that Google knows exactly what's being purchased?
i am not sure why you are saying or having concerns for customer info residing with Google , is this something related to repeated sales or something?
It's one thing to give this information to Visa or Mastercard, you can't make the sale without it. It's another thing to give this information to a marketing giant that sits between you and your customers.
My customers are my business and not the business of other MARKETING firms.
You probably didn't fear Wal-Mart either until they rolled into all the small towns and killed off the local newspapers along with most of the stores, including drug and grocery stores. Whatever Wal-Mart didn't put out of business the local Home Depot finished off.
I don't get nervous about many industry changes, but this isn't a good situation IMO.
[edited by: incrediBILL at 6:42 pm (utc) on Mar. 23, 2007]
People who typically try fradulent transactions typically do not hide their email. They just get a free yahoo email.
Increased sales, well ours are about $500,000 since we put it on our sites. That is just and increased conversions. Not a bad increase for 5 months... Traffic has remained fairly constant before and after. I think a lot of it has to do with consumer trust when they see that check out button.
When people hide it in google, you still can email them, you just go through a google address.
Think about it, if you Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Eddie Van Halen, George Bush, Bill Clinton etc.... Would you want your email address known?
We know for a fact that people on this level are using checkout, because we see the ship to names and addresses.
People who typically try fradulent transactions typically do not hide their email. They just get a free yahoo email.
That *IS* hiding their email using free email. Been doing ecommerce this as both an ecommerce software developer and merchant on the bleeding edge of fraud detection for years, I've seen all the tricks. That's still not the point, nor is the point rich people want to hide.
I won't give my customer or sales information to Google.
Others can do whatever they want, if it makes them more short-term sales, good.
I hope those sales are worth the ultimate price paid in the end to save a few percentage points and transaction fees until 2008.
Haven't you wondered why they're giving it away free?
They WANT YOUR DATA! Duh.
We already give them a lot of data via adsense, adwords, analytics, etc.....
We are not too concerned about google. I really doubt they will start warehousing items and selling them online.
Also, since they are a publicly traded company, there is only so far they can go with data because of privacy laws.
We do not necessarily give customer check out data to google. Customers choose that. They can also go through authorize.net which we also offer on our sites as well.
It gives people a choice.
there is only so far they can go with data because of privacy laws
Privacy isn't breached by collecting generic amounts of information that can be used for a variety of things, as long as it isn't uniquely identifiable as coming from the original customer.
We are not too concerned about google. I really doubt they will start warehousing items and selling them online.
They can do plenty with the data and not warehouse or sell the items.
Enjoy your dance with the devil.
[edited by: incrediBILL at 8:28 pm (utc) on Mar. 23, 2007]
I really doubt they will start warehousing items and selling them online
All they gotta do is buy Amazon with their billions and they will be doing so - and they'll have a whole load more data then ANYONE for sales, marketing etc.
This could get scary! Do no evil - my ars£ IMHO
Hmm... unless they have learned to teleport things to solve the distribution problem. All that dark fibre... interesting.
