A holiday bonus for Google Checkout merchants: a month of free processing

Google has extended through January its offer of free payment processing for online retailers that offer Google Checkout as a payment option. The offer had been set to end Dec. 31.

Once the offer ends, Google will give merchants credits based on their spending with AdWords, Google’s program for placing ads next to search results. Merchants will get free processing on $10 worth of Google Checkout transactions for every $1 they spend with AdWords.

The Dec. 31 deadline made the timing difficult for some retailers, a Google spokesman says. Some merchants that are not AdWords customers may need time to learn the system, while others may want to tweak their AdWords programs to take full advantage of the Google Checkout offer, says a Google spokesman. “We didn’t want anybody to have to worry about it during December, so we added another month,” he says.

Google does not report details of transaction volume or the number of merchants offering Google Checkout, a service it introduced in June 2006. “We’re really pleased with Checkout’s growth and performance,” the spokesman says. “And total sales this year are exceeding last year’s.”

To pay with Google Checkout, consumers register their billing and shipping information and payment card information, then can pay at participating merchants just by clicking the Google Checkout option. PayPal, a unit of eBay Inc., offers a similar service called PayPal Express Checkout, and is offering free processing on those transactions through May 31.