Google Checkout has introduced a new feature that allows merchants based in the U.S. to create and to run their own Checkout promotions at any time. From the Google Checkout blog: "Starting today, you can sign in to your Checkout merchant account, go to the 'Tools' tab, and click the 'Promotions' link to create a Checkout promotion in less than a minute. You'll be able to specify the date and time you'd like the promotion to run, as well as choose from a variety of dollar-off discounts to offer your buyers."

In a blog post titled "Google Plans Tools to Help News Media Charge for Content", Miguel Helft writes for the New York Times that "Google is planning to roll out a system of micropayments within the next year and hopes that newspapers will use it as they look for new ways to charge users for their content."

Google Checkout has introduced the Google Checkout store gadget, a new Google Labs-developed feature that allows online sellers to "create an online store that's powered by Google Checkout and has inventory managed in a Google Docs spreadsheet." You can embed your online store anywhere you'd like -- on Google Sites, Blogger, or your personal website. Signup for it here.

Over on PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Russ Jones takes a look at Google Checkout's beta version of subscription payments.

Following yesterday's fee change announcement by Google Checkout, Glenbrook's Scott Loftesness has just posted a look at pricing across the three major online payment providers over on PaymentsViews.com.

What is PaymentsViews.com? It's our newest online site for payments professionals - devoted to analysis, commentary and opinions beyond just the news of the day we cover here on PaymentsNews.com.

Google has announced a new tiered pricing plan for merchant fees for Google Checkout. Beginning May 5, Google Checkout's fees will vary based upon a merchant's monthly sales processed through Checkout. The new pricing plan removes the credit for Google AdWords advertising that was part of the original fee structure for Google Checkout. Here are the details for US merchants and for UK merchants. An additional 1% fee is charged on all cross-border transactions. Google Checkout continues to not charge any monthly, setup or gateway service fees.

In a post titled "YouTube Goes Offline", Thai Tran writes on the YouTube blog that video content creators can now sell their work - "for a small fee paid through Google Checkout" - in a pilot program.

Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager, Google Checkout writes on the Checkout blog that Google will begin charging processing fees to non-profits using Google Checkout who are no members of Google's Grants program.

Google Checkout has introduced a new shopping cart feature for sellers - saying that: "With the Google Checkout shopping cart, your buyers can add multiple items to their shopping cart, change item quantities, and remove items -- all without leaving your site. When buyers are ready to check out, they can complete their purchases with Google Checkout." Details here.

Google has announced that over 50 Google Checkout stores will be offering savings of $10 off purchases of $60 or more to buyers using Google Checkout through June 23rd.

Glenbrook's Allen Weinberg and Jim Salters are attending this week's Payments 2008 conference in Las Vegas. Here's Allen's second report from today's sessions including his notes on the panel he chaired this afternoon titled “Payments aren’t about Payments Anymore”.

AuctionByte's Ina Steiner interviews Prem Ramaswami, Associate Product Manager for Google Checkout, for an update on Google's payment service. Both a podcast and a transcript of the interview are available. Ramaswami says: "We want to create the fastest, safest and most convenient shopping method for our buyers to use, and we want to increase ecommerce, because we strongly believe that increasing ecommerce increases the size of the pie for everybody out there."

Business Week's Catherine Holahan takes a look at PayPal - and other alternative payment providers including Bill Me Later and Google Checkout. "Experts point to three main drivers for alternative payments: concern over fraud risk, growth in merchant participation, and fear of, or lack of access to, credit cards."

Google has introduced Google Checkout Trends, a tool that allows anyone to get some insight into what Google Checkout merchants are selling - by item - online. According to Google, "Google Checkout Trends aggregates the sales data of Google Checkout merchants and charts it in a matter of seconds. (Of course, all the data is anonymized first.)"

Google Checkout has posted a page of charities that are using its Google Checkout for Non-Profits service. As a reminder, "Google Checkout for Non-Profits is a fast, convenient donation process that helps you attract more donors and increase online giving to your organization – and you can use it to process donations by charging credit or debit cards for free until 2009."

In an article titled 'Google’s Checkout perks paying off', Yi-Wyn Yen writes for Fortune's TechLand blog about Google Checkout and some new figures that Google provided yesterday about its performance: "Google says web shoppers who’ve signed up for Checkout are 10 percent more likely to click on an ad that features a Checkout button and 40 percent more likely to make an online purchase once they reach a site."

In an article titled 'E-Commerce Credit Card Alternatives Soaring In Popularity', Evan Schuman writes that "some of the largest E-Commerce chains have suddenly started to embrace non-traditional payment methods, with one analyst firm finding a startling 267 percent increase in such acceptance in February, when compared with the identical survey done in mid-October."

Meanwhile, HitWise looks at the growth in traffic associated with Bill Me Later. HitWise reports that Bill Me Later's traffic is up 271% from last year while PayPal's traffic is down 1% and Google Checkout is down 34%

Alas, the end is drawing near. Gavin Chan, Product Marketing Manager for Google Checkout, posted today on the Google Checkout blog that Google was extending the free transaction processing period for merchants through the holidays to February 1, 2008.

Mylene Mangalindan reports for the Wall St. Journal on marketing promotions being offered this holiday season to online shoppers by PayPal, Bill Me Later and Google Checkout. "For consumers, the offers represent an increasingly significant variable to consider when trying to play the holiday promotions. Most of the latest promotions involve free shipping, discounts or credits."

Today is Cyber Monday - expected to be the busiest online shopping day of the year. As a reminder, some of the online ecommerce payments companies have special offers setup to save you money doing this year's holiday shopping. These include PayPal's Holiday Shopping site, Bill Me Later's holiday store, and Google Checkout's Holiday Offers.

Bob Tedeschi reports for the New York Times about ecommerce retailers adopting PayPal, Bill Me Later and Google Checkout as online payment options. One retailer quoted says "“So we’re a big supporter of these other payment methods. Somebody has to keep the MasterCards and Visas honest.”

Earlier this month, during its review of quarterly financial results, Google's management was asked about the progress of Google Checkout. Jonathan Rosenberg responded:

"I think the real story that is important there is that many of the advertisers that we are working with, such as Jockey, are reporting much, much higher click-through rates. They achieved as much as 60% higher with Checkout and they decreased the cost-per-click by over 31% with Google AdWords and Google Checkout. So we are seeing much more significant volumes in terms of some of these advertisers and the performance with the advertisers."

We're starting to see some pretty mainstream adoption of alternative payments (i.e., non-bank card-based) - what with PayPal's march through the skies with the airlines, Bill Me Later's very effective use of promotional financing, etc. PayPal recently reported that 44% of its payment volume was coming from its Merchant Services business (i.e., non-auction related).

Yesterday, drugstore.com reported third quarter financial results - and they included the following snippet regarding the value to a merchant of accepting alternative payments:

"...almost 10% of OTC transactions in recent weeks have migrated to alternative payment options since the completion of our roll-out of Bill Me Later, Google Checkout and PayPal."

Here's a real-life example of an ecommerce merchant who didn't fool around trying to decide which alternative payment type to implement - they just implemented all three of the majors!

Google has announced Google Checkout for Non-Profits - saying "with this launch, U.S. non-profit organizations (IRS-certified 501(c)(3)s) now have an easy way to accept online donations, and donors have a fast and secure way to support their favorite groups. The best part: it's completely free for the organizations. Through at least the end of 2008, non-profits will pay 0% + 0 cents in transaction fees for each donation they accept through Checkout." More details here.

Bill Slawski writes on his SEO by the Sea blog about a US patent application (20070203836) filed on February 28, 2006 that was published this past Thursday. The patent application is titled "Text Message Payment" and Slawski says was filed by Google and inventor Ramy Dodin. A PDF of the patent application (including diagrams) is available at PatentFetcher.

Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "Alternative Payment Services: Moving into Traditional Payment Territory" that offers "an in-depth look at the principle providers of alternative payment services" and "examines the payment modalities supported by these alternative payment services and the consumer demographics they appeal to."

A friend emailed us today to point out Buy.com's comprehensive explanation of Google Checkout for shoppers on the www.buy.com site. Buy.com is also promoting Google Checkout on its individual item pages - see this one for an example of a $10 off offer for new Google Checkout sign-ups.

The Google Checkout API Blog has a video interview with Renaud Visage, CTO of Eventbrite, about how he's monetizing a Facebook online events registration application using Google Checkout.

Ina Steiner takes a look at the recently introduced Amazon's Flexible Payments Service from the standpoint of online sellers - comparing it with PayPal and Google Checkout with respect to how it works for sellers.

A few of Google Checkout's merchants are offering back to school savings of up to $20 when you shop any pay using Google Checkout at their stores. Google Checkout continues to stress the service's basic consumer value proposition: "Complete your purchase in seconds with one login, keep your credit card info confidential, and track all your orders in one place."