It appears that Google's new checkout system provides an added bonus and strong incentive - namely a nifty little icon that helps your site stand out in the AdWords listings on search results pages. See below:
Notice how thefurniture.com has that spiffy green cart next to it? My guess is those advertisers are getting CTRs like they're the #1 result, despite paying for #7 placement. With an offer like that, I'd drop Paypal, too.
Can anyone who has already implemented Google Checkout confirm an actual improvement/increase in CTR?
I mean, I trust Rand's gut intsinct as much as the next SEO, so I would be likely to believe the increase *should* follow.
But I'm just curious to hear some actual hard numbers.
Jonathan,
Still a little to early to draw any hard conclusions.
It would be nice if the CTR was so much better that we ended up getting more clicks, without our total spend going up.
That usually isnt the case though with adwords. There are some savings to be had but they usually dont cover the whole amount of the cost of the increased click-throughs.
Not a big deal though. We can just lower bid amounts to compensate. Total spend isnt something we usually worry about though. We prefer to base our bid amounts on "Lead Conversions"... We set a price like $5 bucks per lead and that is what determines what amount we spend per click.
Hey Guys. Heres a quick update.
I just found out that if you dont maintain a certain amount of sales through Google Checkout, that they suspend your badges from showing.
We havent done one since I set it up on Saturday and now they are suspended.
Good. I'm happy Google has some "smarts" built into the system. That will keep people from abusing it.
Looks like I'll have to start pushing it a little more heavily.
Unfortunatly they don't offer subscriptions yet, and 99.5% of our sales are subscription based.
The added clicks are great but does it boost conversion enough to cover the added click costs?
Check this out guys,
I considered posting this on my own blog, it would be a great story, but I honestly dont have the time.
Do a search for any of Textlinkbrokers keywords (I.E. buy text links, buy links)
Take a look at our new Google Checkout Icon. Yep, thats right Textlinkbrokers is now seeing increased click throughs due to the fact that we now except Google checkout. :)
This stuff is cake, it wont be long until everyone has an icon... DOH! ... maybe we should erase this thread ; )
Jarrod
I think it's one of those tactics that's going to take a good deal of time before people catch on. Enjoy that boosted CTR - it's especially nice since it also boosts your position with the AdWords formula. :)
Are we talking about "dropping Paypal" or can we just "add Checkout in addition to Paypal" ? The latter would'nt be a problem, obviously. Time to research I guess...
I don't think that it is ruthless... I think that it is mighty smart to tout their own brand.
Very smart.. Paypal, and the other processors, have got a lot to worry about.
I found another little nifty detail on their site:
Thats pretty dang sweet. One of my ecommerce customers spends about $200,000 per month on adwords. That means they could do $2,000,000 in sales for free through G checkout. At an average 2% discount fee thats $40,000 in savings per month. Holy Cow!
I just emailed my cart company to bug them about supporting google checkout.
Excellent find, Jarrod - this could be one of the more serious ventures Google has experimented with in a while...
I think that its going to shake up the big credit card processors.
I'll be recommending to all my clients that they integrate Google checkout on their shopping carts.
Hell, I may even tell my non-ecommerce customers to integrate it. All they need to do is find something to sell. Can anyone say "Very Cheap Ebook"....