I just noticed a new feature that Google has added to their AdSense ads. They are highlighting advertisers that also use Google Checkout.
In the above screen shot of a recent AdSense ad running on this blog, you’ll noticed the two middle ads have a Google Checkout shopping cart icon next to them. Hovering the mouse over the icon displays the message, “This site accepts Google Checkout.”
This looks like a very creative way to get advertisers and consumers to sign up for the Google Checkout service. Google is also offering a $10 bonus for consumers to sign up for a Checkout account. The bonus can be spent at participating stores using the Checkout service.
It looks like Google just escalated the battle with eBay’s PayPal.
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John this is good, and I have no apology for the conservatism of PayPal.
PayPal did not recognize transactions in my country (Nigeria), for whatever reason. Imagine if PayPal had monopoly of online transactions!
Bravo Google.
It’s a smart but logical way to advertise their service, however I still like Paypal more; I can’t even sign up on Checkout without entering credit card info – it’s not that common to have a credit card here in Europe, it’s quite a market they’re missing.
Isn’t credit cards common in Europe? Witch country do you live in?
Looks like a good way to get more click throughs to. Those ads get my attention more than the others, personally.
Yeah it looks like they have esculated the battle with PayPal. Unless we are getting paid more for stores with the checkout mark, it is badly done by Google, but very very smart. It is in theese moments one understand what kind of power Google actually has.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the amount of checkout stores that use checkout will increase a lot the comming weeks. That, in turn, will increase consumers with checkout. This will probably end with a monopoly owned by checkout, unless Google removes the checkout mark at the ads.
Hmmmm who to choose… I build Ecommerce applications so I might need to review this new gadget from Google!
At last some competiton for EBAY AND PAYPAL! About TIME. I cant wait till CHeckOUT IS more famous than Paypal.
Excellent idea on Google’s part. Though it will be bad for websites that promote themselves and don’t sell any products.
Yeah, I noticed this a few days ago on my own blog.
They’ve had a blue shopping cart on normal AdWords ads (on google.com) for a while…
But does AdSense “accept” credit cards? Or does it just apply to the domain?
I believe that they’ve been doing this for months already. I remember seeing some of the shopping cart adwords icons back in December.
Google Checkout has offered the $10 promotion as well as the cart icon for quite some time now in their search results, but this is the first I have seen the cart icon in an Adsense ad. Any competition for PayPal will be helpful to the market.
Its about time that Paypal has a decent competitor. Google has some really good promos to get everyone to convert to them including free transactions until 2008 for AdWords advertisers.
I’ve seen them doing this for some time now, but Google has yet to figure out how to make PayPal “broken” for the people (like me) that use it for pretty much all online transactions.
Showing the little icon is nice, but does it really factor into a user clicking on the ad? I’m sure it doesn’t yet, but it might in the future.
Google won’t get me to switch over until they show me that PayPal is broken and I can’t live without Google Checkout. Until then they’re going to be spinning their wheels, I’m afraid.
Interesting catch, John. However, what about this oddity that I’ve spotted twice in row this week:
http://www.ronaldlewis.com/blog/2007/02/ads-by-g-google-adsense-oddity-part-2.html
Why are there variations in the presentation of the “Ads by Google” moniker? It’s odd.
I’ve seen that a few times on my blog too but never took a screen shot. Good catch!
I think it is great Google is providing some competition to PayPal…all they need to do now is come out with an auction site.
noticed it to..
They’ve been doing this for a while. I think the icons used to be green actually… the gray looks better- it blends in more.
I like to see Google always trying new things. YPN is very slow to do anything.
It’ll be an uphill battle, but probably one worth fighting for. I know a number of people that are unhappy [1] with PayPal and [2] that there isn’t a viable alternative.
Isn’t anyone concerned about where this might go? I’ve had my issues with Paypal over the years, but Paypal does not control the most used search engine out there. Sounds like an awful lotta power for Google to have – the top search engine, top PPC program, AND (they are hoping) top payment processor.
So…what will this mean in the long run for non-Adsense ecommerce sites, not to mention those who use AdSense but don’t offer GCO?