...payment service, and when you use it and buy an AdWords ad, youll not only get the Checkout sale processed for free " youll also get extra visibility in Google search results due to a Checkout shopping cart icon. But how much visibility does this add, anyway? According to Googles Checkout page: users click on ads 10% more when the ad displays the Checkout badge.*

Different Google Checkout icons used over time (is the middle one still currently used? Above image is older, and Ive not spotted one for a while)

Furthermore, Google quotes one advertiser, Fred Lerner of Ritz Interactive, saying the Checkout icon has given them a 23 percent lift in clickthrough rate.

Good for Google, perhaps less good for competition like EBay-owned PayPal.

A normal, button-free ad

*Im not sure how Google came up with these stats, e.g. whether they directly compared the same ad with and without an icon, or if they compared ads using Checkout to those not using Checkout (as sellers using Checkout may not be a strictly average sample).

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