Google Checkout will be retired, transition to Google Wallet (opens in new tab)

Completely agree. I'm so disappointed in Google for having Checkout for years and not doing anything serious with it. I really wanted it to become a serious alternative to Paypal. But it's like they never even tried.

And it turned out to be huge mistake for them because they could've really used Checkout accounts from day one of Android, to get people to pay for Android apps. I still believe this has been one of the biggest obstacles on Android, because you need Google Wallet (which is brand new service, I guess) account to pay for apps, and obviously the vast majority of people didn't have one, and didn't bother to make one either, and they'd rather look for the free alternative of the app.

It's been getting a bit better since Android 4.0, since they are asking everyone to make an account at the set-up, but they are still behind, and it could've been much better early on if Checkout was popular.

> Reality: Doing 20 things mediocrely is not as profitable of doing 2 things very very well.

Reality also is that there is often a declining marginal value in additional investments in the same area once you are already doing very well in that area, and that the marginal profit from doing something else mediocre may be greater than the marginal profit from doing the existing thing a tiny bit better.

And lots of Google's experiments that are outside of what are understood to be its core strengths when they are introduced end up as things that are at the top of their field: Gmail and Chrome, for instance, weren't at the center of what Google did when they were introduced.

Um, did you read the post or just the headline. Aren't they just replacing Google Checkout with Google Wallet and isn't Google Wallet better than Google Checkout? It sounds like an upgrade to me. What am I missing?

Is it just a messaging problem? If they had instead said "We're renaming Google Checkout to Google Wallet. We're introducing API v2. API v1 is deprecated and will be turned off in 6 months so upgrade your apps." would that have changed your response?

Except they seem to be doing a great job jumping into new products and services?

Google Wallet looks like a big improvement over their old system.

> Google is making the same mistakes Microsoft made. Trying to enter into every industry it can thinking it can use it's monopoly power to take over the world.

I call this the Spaghetti Cannon strategy.

Load up a cannon with cash and different ideas, blow up the cash and see what sticks to the wall.

If we redrew the corporate boundaries of Google and Microsoft, we'd see them as investment firms tasked with turning a reliable long term cashflows into new reliable long term cashflows. Quasi-venture firms.

So far, Google has advertising. And that's it.

Microsoft have Windows, Office, Server & Tools and Xbox.

So in actual fact, Microsoft are proving that yeah, it sorta works. Sorta.

I disagree on some levels.

I think the amount of innovation and creativity that Google pushes for is amazing.

What if Checkout was the next big thing? At least they tried it and can put it in the history books now.

I do agree with point number 2, that they are making their services seem "legitimate" too quickly. Personally I would move them back to their Google Labs days to solve that problem. Where they would make a larger point of this service being in BETA and possibly not a long term goal.

From there if it passes BETA just streamline it, make it profitable, and keep it for as long as possible.

Perhaps that's what they're doing, but seeing a headline on HN every few days about "X Google Service Shutting Down" is incredibly disheartening and damaging to their brand, I agree completely on that one.

EDIT: The "Go Programming Language was first designed and developed at Google Inc." according to wikipedia. And we all love Go on HN. So it's hit and miss just like anything else, but godspeed to them for trying!

Not that I disagree with your basic premise but I wonder why some companies get away with this type of thing and others don't. Your example of Apple is an obvious one but they have plenty of "failures" on their hands as well. Whether it is something that is dead on arrival like Ping or the company letting one of its old marquee products die a slow death like the MacPro or iPod classic, Apple seems to be able to brush off these issues like no one else.

I disagree. Google's recent efforts to narrow its focus (i.e. Google+, killing Reader) have been miserable failures. Being able to do 50 things at once, on the other hand, lets them come up with truly groundbreaking things like Glass and the self-driving car.

This seems to be a mistake that a ton of startups make as well. It's a result of indecisive (read:poor) management and inevitably leads to doing nothing particularly well.

One company that I've seen not fall into this trap is Dropbox. Dropbox offers one amazing service and pours all it's efforts into that, and from what I hear they have some insanely smart people working there doing that. As a result they can afford to decline a $6 billion offer from Google and then go on to compete against Google's inferior offering.

4) It annoys the people who do use your product especially if they were already happy with it. Chances are they were the early adopters and evangelists. Their voices are what leads to #2 amplifying the actions.

> 1) Constant experiments and dropped products (just like Microsoft).

> 3) The services you do have aren't the highest quality and your brand takes a hit as being "giant mediocre corporation" like Microsoft instead of "high quality company" like Apple.

Yes, Apple never creates duds; we are all happily using our Newton.

Yes, but they're constantly iterating, reviewing, and consolidating. While I agree that Google is tangling itself in many products, I don't think it's going the route of Windows. I enjoy using Google products; I can't say the same for MSoft.

And now I have to work harder to avoid PayPal.

I think I'm going to start looking into my email setup, just in case.

I think it's more the opposite. Google, hyped up on IPO endorphins and VC DNA went out and tried to conquer the world, despite not having a distinct advantages in the businesses it was getting into. The results have been lackluster in many cases (but not all). They probably overdid it. Good on them for realizing that and putting a bullet in some of these efforts. Many companies don't have the courage to do that.

Yes, but it seems to me like they are trying to correct those issues quickly.

That comment reads more like reflex than anything with much thought put behind it: "Google is closing a service; Google is the new Microsoft" that old tired cliche.

First of all it's far form an unexpected announcement seeing as they have been developing another payment service in parallel, and second "monopoly" is a specific legal term, it shouldn't thrown around lightly, it's not just another synonym for "big".

As for your points:

1) Experimentation is net positive, and by definition most of said experiments will fail. You can't really be any sort of a self respecting tech company if you shun experimentation.

2) This is anecdotal, they have a selection of core products and when a peripheral one gets deprecated it's done through a reasonable process as spelled out in that post.

3) That's subjective.

That comment reads like reflex than anything with much though put behind it: "Google is closing a service", "Google is new the Microsoft" the same tired cliche.

First of all it's far form an unexpected announcement seeing as they have been developing another payment service in paralleled, and second "monopoly" is a specific legal term, it shouldn't thrown around lightly, it's not just another synonym for "big".

As for your points:

1) Great things could come out from experimentation so it's a new positive and by definition most of those experiments will fail, you can't really be any sort of a self respected tech company if you shun experimentation.

2) This is anecdotal, they have a selection of core products and when a preferential one gets deprecated it's done through a reasonable process as spelled out in that post.

3) That's subjictive.

There's Google Wallet and recently I'e purchased LastPass premium using that, outside Google's shops I mean. So, they just thought it's better to have either of the two - Checkout or Wallet.

http://www.gwern.net/Google%20shutdowns may be of interest to you.

I think Google is just refining their products, which I think is great thing for them. I think I got an email about G+ being integrated into ALL of Google's products...but who didn't see that coming.

I'm going with FeedBurner. Although you could argue it's already 90% dead.

The Q is pretty much dead at this point, the new Play Music update no longer allows you to stream to it. Google TV just got an update to 4.2.2, and I think it will be updated for the time being.

Google Books is another thing that they seem to have gotten in just because they were big, and then didn't do much else. They've barely moved the needle with that service. They seem a lot more serious about music and video. I still hope they will take books more seriously soon. It's like they are not even on the map for most people right now in books.

I think the next thing Google will kill is its search engine... :)

Someone suggested Bitcoin today, as a merchant, what would you recommend to start accepting it? a third party service?

Let me guess, google wallet will require g+?

Hi _Lemon_

I work at GoCardless. I would love to hear your feedback about ways that you think we could improve our fraud protection!

Feel free to reply here, or give me an email (kit AT gocardless DOT com), or to call me on 020 7183 8674.

(I work at Stripe.)

Sorry you haven't gotten one yet! I just sent an invite your way.

Have you tried Braintree in the UK?

My understanding is that merchants would need to ask their users to re-subscribe through different payment provider. It seems very unlikely that Google Checkout would allow any way of importing users' credit card information.

After such treatment I'm very unlikely to use any future Google's payment systems (such as Google Wallet).

=========

https://support.google.com/checkout/sell/answer/3098725

The ability to process recurring charges or subscriptions using the subscription beta feature will be shut down on November 20th.

=========

Did you read the post?

> If you don't have your own payment processing, you will need to transition to a different solution within six months. To make things easier, we've partnered with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks to offer you discounted migration options.

So you have 6 months and several options for migration.

I feel like no one actually read the submission. Google Checkout and Google Wallet overlapped too much, and Wallet won out. If your website uses Checkout, just replace it with Wallet, and move on with your life.

I wonder how we would have reacted if rather than spacing all these out, they batched them up an did one big announcement with plans for all lines being discontinued. Quick and clean sort of deal.

My trust has been eroded in Google to the point where I am actively seeking a replacement to Google Apps (I have a free account which I can't imagine will be around forever).

Also, now with tumblr being bought I'm hesitant to jump ship and host my blog on my own server. Seems like the way forward.

Shoddy API's are not unique to Checkout. Most, if not all, of Google's API's are actually pretty terrible. When they DO update their API's it's pretty rare that they tell anyone, and they never update their documentation. So, a workflow that worked fine last week will suddenly fail disgracefully and you'll have no idea unless you find the right version of the docs.

This is the real story. They're not shutting down at all, they're pivoting their focus within payments to mobile/physical presence. Getting rid of 'card not present' situations means cheaper and more reliable processing, and the physical focus that goes with mobile payments gives additional reasons for Android users to leave their credit card details with Google. Google's fastest growth right now must be in Android-driven Google account signups. I can see why they're focusing on that area, rather than some old, first financial world only, pre-monopolized, credit card not present delayed payments reverse charges web based fraud rule quagmire.

Good spot

Looks like Google partnered(?) with Braintree, Shopify and Freshbooks-- like you can get a discount for transitioning. Considering how many people mention just moving to Stripe on this thread, I wonder what sort of hoops those three had to jump through to get their names on the page. Also I wonder what part of the process led Google to choose those three over their competitors.

It seems like Stripe would have been a natural choice. Anyone know anything about the vetting process and want to comment? It would be interesting if there was a hangup or concern that led to the decision.

> Wait, so what's the difference between this and Google Wallet?

With Checkout, Google is a credit card processor.

With Wallet, Google isn't a credit card processor, they are partnered with Bankcorp Bank who is issuing virtual cards which are funded either by transferring funds from the users bank account or by charging credit cards.

This was a system that let online shops take payments. Confusingly, at one point they renamed the service to "Google Wallet".

It may be a transition for Checkout users, but it's a shutdown for merchants.

* Shutting down payment processing which was a pretty fundamental part of the offering

* they're requiring you to reapply to get an instant buy account

* They're killing off the APIs

It's not a transition if you lose a core feature, don't transition the accounts in any meaningful way, and have to implement a new system - at that point it's about like switching to PayPal (except you get to keep payment processing if you switch).

"Google" + "Shutdown" = instant successful headline

No, they are getting rid of the payment processing.

Google merged Checkout with Wallet over a year ago. That was unpleasant, but bearable. This time Google is killing what's left of Google Checkout: API and subsriptions. That's much worse.

To add an insult to injury, Google uses Doublespeak, so now we have to guess about what's really going to happen.

> This is bizarre considering that the Gmail money thing just launched so Google is remaining in the payment processing business

The "Gmail money" thing is a Google Wallet feature, as Google Wallet doesn't include credit card processing on the merchant side, I suspect that for things where Google is, effectively, the "merchant" (like sending money through Gmail), they are paying a third party for processing services.