Jun 03
Where the Bloody Hell Are Ya, Google Checkout?
So I have been waiting for Google Checkout to become available to merchants Down Under for a long time now.
Every time I spot a Google representative at a Search Conference in Australia or New Zealand, I take the opportunity to ask them publicly “Where the bloody hell is my Google Checkout merchant account?” So far, the answer has ALWAYS been the same: “We can’t give you any information about that”.
This year’s SMX Sydney conference was no different. Frederick Vallaeys, Product Evangelist for Google Adwords came to Australia to hold a session about the new Google AdWords ad formats. After listening patiently to Frederick, I raised my hand to ask a question and was handed the mic.
“When are you going to make Google Checkout available to merchants in Australia and New Zealand?”
An expectant hush came over the room. Frederick thought carefully for a moment and then said “I’ll have to get back to you on that. Please come and see me at the end of the session”.
Finally! I thought. Somebody who can give me a straight answer or put me in touch with someone who can give me a straight answer.
After the session, I packed up my laptop and headed up to the table of speakers. And…. Frederick was gone. Thankfully, Greg Grothaus from Google’s web spam team was still there and somewhat reluctantly took my card to give to Frederick. On the back I wrote my burning question. Again.
So fast forward two weeks after the conference. I received an email from Frederick with the subject line: Google Checkout in Australia. “Promising!” I told myself. But alas, his email read:
“Greg passed on your card to me. I believe you asked about Google Checkout coming to Australia?
Consumers in Australia can already use Checkout to pay for things. As for allowing Australian merchants to accept payments by Checkout, we don’t have any timelines we can share about that.
Sorry I can’t provide you with a more specific answer…
Frederick”
We don’t have any timelines we can share about that. WTF does that mean? Does that mean you DON’T know? Does it mean you DO know but aren’t willing to tell me? Does it mean an announcement is imminent? Does it mean you don’t really give a toss about Australia and New Zealand as they aren’t big enough markets to justify merchant accounts?
Look, I don’t complain about Google very often. Marvellous company. Brilliant people. Handy little search tool. I’m delighted that Frederick took the time to answer me personally. BUT, surely somebody, somewhere in the Googleplex can give me and other AU/NZ merchants in waiting a straight answer about this matter? It’s been 3 years since I began asking.
Where the bloody hell are ya, Google Checkout?
[Editor Update 1 : If you're an Aussie or Kiwi merchant and would like to know where the bloody hell YOUR Google Checkout account is, please comment on this post, or better still, make your feelings known to Google Down Under on Twitter and copy me in via @kalena]
[Editor Update 2 : Thanks to those of you who contacted Google Down Under to ask about Google Checkout for merchants Down Under. I've had a response from them: "...we want paid apps for devs too but it takes a while to roll this out, we don't have a timeline for this yet". Aaaaarrrggghhh! ]
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June 3rd, 2010 at 8:38 pm
OK now this question is going to make me look super stupid BUT what will Google checkout do for me? I am not exactly sure what it is BUT if Kalena likes it then it must be important ..so please for us non-techies explain. Thanks :)
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:40 pm
I have also been waiting bloody ages for this services to reach our shores! Plenty of clients in the know have asked over the years about implementation of this. It really is a shame that they can’t even give a broad estimation. Come on GOOGLE get it together.
June 4th, 2010 at 2:56 am
It isn’t available in Canada either. Why offer it at all if it’s only valid in the US?
June 4th, 2010 at 6:23 am
Hi Kalena, I didn’t even know that Australia doesn’t have Google checkout, maybe they are focusing there efforts to much on the US and Europe (possibly China as well) – also the other factor is Facebook and the fact they are catching up with Google. So in a nutshell it sounds like the Aussies and Kiwis have been forgotten – what a great shame!
June 5th, 2010 at 4:52 am
I’m from a little north of down under but we have the same frustration in Canada. We speak the same language, we share the longest border in the world, we are the USA’s biggest trading partner, and we are a market 10% the size of the US with a much stronger economy and yet we can’t offer Google Checkout to our customers, 80% of whom are in the United States. It’s probably partly that Google doesn’t want to deal with “other” countries’ legislation but I think it’s also due to the fact that the US, in large part, is incredibly insular and knows little and cares less about the world outside their borders. It’s the same syndrome that stops me from using a Canadian credit card on tons of US merchant sites. They just don’t think about other countries so they set their checkout forms to only allow US addresses and zip codes.
June 7th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Yes, I’ve also been waiting for Google Checkout to arrive in Australia. I’ve given up now!
June 8th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
@Jo – Google Checkout is a payment gateway for online merchants. It has much lower fees than many of the other payment gateways like 2Checkout, PayPal and WorldPay and is an easier system for online buyers to use. It also enables AdWords advertisers to promote the fact they offer payment via Google Checkout with a little button at the bottom of ads.
June 8th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
@djbaxter @Rob – I had no idea Google Checkout wasn’t available to merchants in Canada either. Wow, just wow.
July 1st, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Heck I want to use it, or recommend it, for my US merchants to sell to US customers. But as my company is not registered in the States I can’t even get a sandbox version to play around with. It is frustrating, in fact I would be less unhappy if they just said it is not coming, or not coming until such and such a date.
Thanks for leading the charge Kalena
July 9th, 2010 at 8:31 am
I agree, just say it isn’t coming to Canada and Australia and we can all go back to developing for the iphone and at least make some money. Apple doesnt seem to have a problem handling canadian banks or GST or whatever the problem is. Apple acts as your agent and collects the GST and submits it for you, it’s really simple it’s like one form…Urgg…