Google Checkout

Rating
8/10

Good Points
Integration into Google Search, faster transactions

Bad Point
Not an "amazing" product like Gmail or Google News

Although touted as not a competitor to Paypal by Google. Google Checkout is performing operations very similar to Paypal. This highly talked about product enable users to carry a "passport" of information (credit card number, expiration date) to make purchases online without ever giving any information to the merchant. This "passport" allows users to bypass the constant annoyance of typing in all necessary transaction information for each site they wish to buy items from. The benefits are clear, only Google (with its renown privacy policy) will ever handle you personal information and transaction would be far faster.

The main question is whether this product will launch into popularity. For every one dollar spent by a merchant in Google AdWords, he will be able to process 10 dollars worth of sales for free. For those merchants that do not use AdWords, the transaction fee's are lower than the market leader Paypal. This sort of enticement offered by Google has the potential to make it one of the hottest products in the market. Thus, making the online consumer experience as feasible as one would have in a local store.