Checking Out Google Checkout
Google, Google, Google, always in the headlines. Does the launch of Google checkout give Google yet more power in the digital space? The ever expanding Google is now giving payment processors a run for their money.
The launch has not been welcomed by the affiliate marketing community and for good reason. The developments of google checkout could give the BIG G yet more power and could bring them ever closer to being the worlds biggest affiliate!
The biggest black cloud for me is the fact that Google gives selected data about the customer. You will get the name and address of the customer, but not the credit card number or email address. Well credit card is fine but not getting an email address may affect your future customer retention activity. Google very much seem to be on the side of the buyer, where as market leaders paypal are very much with the seller.
Integration of the tracking code alongside existing affiliate networks may bring initial teething problems but Google are adamant that they are working with networks and once integrated affiliate tracking should not be affected.
It's more than just the tracking, the incentives may shape how existing retailers work with affiliates in the paid search arena. Attractive introductory offers like £10 worth of sales for free (no payment processing fee) for every £1 you spend on Google Adwords may see more retailers taking their adwords campaign inhouse, as opposed to outsourcing to affiliates on a revshare basis. After all reduced payment charges essentially mean better ROI. I for one would challenge this as affiliates are experts and can manipulate adwords more than any in-house team could.
You can process all your checkout sales for free until 2008, and there are no monthly, setup or gateway fees – Checkout is entirely free. Companies are simply jumping into the fire with no clear understanding of the future impact on their businesses. Fees as of 1st Jan 2008, will be closely linked to adwords spend. if your spend with adwords is at least £1000 per month, they will offer £10,000 of processing value through google checkout for free. Sales in excess of 10 times your monthly adwords spend will then be flat fee 2% +$0.20p per transaction. This certainly gives paypal a run for their money since they vary from 1.4-3.4% with a fixed £0.20 fee, but at what cost to your business?
Lets step back and see what data Google get...If a company has integrated Google analytics, runs Google adwords and has now implemented Google cart, Google have just acquired a transparent view of your business. I would personally be worrying about so much information being available for Google to analyze. So what can they do with the data? Well they already dabbled with Froogle. One avenue for Google would be reactivate Froogle and use all their acquired knowledge to be promoting products which they know sell and convert well. Going down the reward or cashback avenue is highly likely, and they could well give existing cashback sites a run for their money and be the online equivalent of Nector.
What impact does this have for customers? With Google being such a big brand name this may be initial consumer confidence and may give the perception of better conversions, however I don't think this will be the case. Are Google really in the position to deliver the service on a par with the likes of Paypal?
The launch has not been welcomed by the affiliate marketing community and for good reason. The developments of google checkout could give the BIG G yet more power and could bring them ever closer to being the worlds biggest affiliate!
The biggest black cloud for me is the fact that Google gives selected data about the customer. You will get the name and address of the customer, but not the credit card number or email address. Well credit card is fine but not getting an email address may affect your future customer retention activity. Google very much seem to be on the side of the buyer, where as market leaders paypal are very much with the seller.
Integration of the tracking code alongside existing affiliate networks may bring initial teething problems but Google are adamant that they are working with networks and once integrated affiliate tracking should not be affected.
It's more than just the tracking, the incentives may shape how existing retailers work with affiliates in the paid search arena. Attractive introductory offers like £10 worth of sales for free (no payment processing fee) for every £1 you spend on Google Adwords may see more retailers taking their adwords campaign inhouse, as opposed to outsourcing to affiliates on a revshare basis. After all reduced payment charges essentially mean better ROI. I for one would challenge this as affiliates are experts and can manipulate adwords more than any in-house team could.
You can process all your checkout sales for free until 2008, and there are no monthly, setup or gateway fees – Checkout is entirely free. Companies are simply jumping into the fire with no clear understanding of the future impact on their businesses. Fees as of 1st Jan 2008, will be closely linked to adwords spend. if your spend with adwords is at least £1000 per month, they will offer £10,000 of processing value through google checkout for free. Sales in excess of 10 times your monthly adwords spend will then be flat fee 2% +$0.20p per transaction. This certainly gives paypal a run for their money since they vary from 1.4-3.4% with a fixed £0.20 fee, but at what cost to your business?
Lets step back and see what data Google get...If a company has integrated Google analytics, runs Google adwords and has now implemented Google cart, Google have just acquired a transparent view of your business. I would personally be worrying about so much information being available for Google to analyze. So what can they do with the data? Well they already dabbled with Froogle. One avenue for Google would be reactivate Froogle and use all their acquired knowledge to be promoting products which they know sell and convert well. Going down the reward or cashback avenue is highly likely, and they could well give existing cashback sites a run for their money and be the online equivalent of Nector.
What impact does this have for customers? With Google being such a big brand name this may be initial consumer confidence and may give the perception of better conversions, however I don't think this will be the case. Are Google really in the position to deliver the service on a par with the likes of Paypal?
