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Google Checkout had a fatal flaw when I looked at using it many years ago. It required that a buyer have a Google account. Paypal doesn't require this. A buyer can use their credit card. They don't need to sign up for anything. This simple fact alone made me think that Google Checkout would never take off. Google wasn't interested in helping me conduct business. It was more interested in getting Google accounts.

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"Paypal doesn't require this. A buyer can use their credit card. They don't need to sign up for anything."

This is not exactly true. When a buyer uses their credit card they are promoted to add an email address which essentially creates a Paypal account for them. They may never actually log into that Paypal account and use it, but they will have a paypal account with the info they've entered. It's Paypal's sneaky way of signing people up.

I don't like Google Checkout for a few other reasons:

- If a transaction fails on a debit or credit card, they require you to send in proof of identity and proof of address. Paypal, Amazon and iTunes simply let you try again

- They required me to do the same to re-open a merchant account I had voluntarily closed

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