>Who is the real Goliath? Is it Google Checkout or Paypal?

Paypal has a lot more registered users and are building a bigger off-eBay presence every day. Paypal is also partnered up with the likes of Yahoo! Stores that offer Paypal Express Checkout and Direct Payment. With Paypal Direct Payment, merchants receive a merchant account-like service for $20 per month. This gives merchant access to accepting all major credit card online via shopping cart and through a Virtual Terminal.

What merchant incentive can you provide long-term that would make merchants want to support Google Checkout? Google has another six months before their free fee special expires. But as merchants, I think we need a more complete set of offerings.

Although Google Checkout can steal marketshare, it seems like a lot of work! Google Checkout is essentially a third-party credit card agent (like 2Checkout) instead of Paypal’s model of having a balance. Transferring Paypal funds between accounts is extremely profitable. Is Google thinking they can serve enough ads in Product Search and AdWords w/ the Checkout logo to make this a profitable business unit?

But I do wish Google Checkout well. Competition is always healthy and it encourage Paypal to improve their weaknesses. Google has the web traffic to properly promote their services. If our web store is any indication, we have been seeing a steady increase of Google Checkout as the preferred payment method. I hope Google will rally another Google sponsored coupon for additional member acquisition during the holiday season. When they do, we’ll be ready to promote Google Checkout heavily. 🙂