The API is currently accessible directly in the Google API Console, so it is super easy to get started with.

Publishers will benefit from the ability to look up Advertisers as well as access order and lead transactions.  The Event and Order Details lookup will probably be most useful feature (at least initially) because of the rich data that can be retrieved.

From PerformanceInsider:

Events data is also available, through the API. For affiliates that prefer to manage all of their earnings reporting, within their own internal reporting system, getting access to this data will prove invaluable. The granularity of event reporting data is impressive. Data can now be pulled all the way down to the SKU level, if part of the advertiser’s program. The API release should save Google affiliates a lot of administrative and reporting time, allowing them to redeploy resources back into revenue-generating activities.

Advertisers will also benefit with the Publisher lookup feature.

Still product search capability or integration with the Google Search API for Shopping is no where to be found.

Access to Advertisers’ promotional offerings via the API would also be nice feature.  Currently GAN still offers a daily promotional feed called OrangeLinks (from the Performics days) via FTP or E-Mail, but nothing in this version of the API.

Documentation for the API can be found here.

With the 2500 / day query limit, the API’s real-world usefulness is limited, and features are still missing from what was in the original Google Base API.  Note that the Google Base API had unlimited calls, with restrictions on 2 per second per IP address. 

One issue above all was that the Tax and Shipping information was no longer included in the API results.  It was the first issue reported, back in January.  Today, after roughly a quarter of the Group’s members reported they wanted the feature back, it was finally addressed and fixed.  It has been exactly 9 months since the issue was first raised to the Google’s Shopping API Group.  It may have taken so long because of the requirement for Merchants to include Tax and Shipping deadline was the 1st of September, but who really knows. 

This is an essential enhancement, and congrats to the Google API team for getting it done.  That being said, in general, the Google API support team has been moving at a snails pace in taking on any issues addressed by public developers, and generally seem to have their own agenda.  With what could be the most powerful Shopping search API available, Google is either holding back intentionally or not committing enough resources. 

Hopefully this enhancement is a sign that things are moving in the right direction, and as Google continues to enforce stricter datafeed policies on the Merchants’ end, perhaps these changes will translate into a more robust API for developers.  In the mean time, continue to look elsewhere for Shopping Search APIs from price comparison sites like Shopping.com, ShopZilla, or PriceGrabber who have viable and tested API offerings for production-level applications.

The whole process for Google Checkout was straightforward and simple. It seemed easier than using the relatively clunky RitzCamera checkout interface itself (which has given me problems in the past when using FireFox). Of course you it seems you need a Gmail account to use the service (which is still by invitation only?).

After the purchase you can keep track of your order using the Google Checkout History found in your Google account. Also, Google also allows you to refrain from giving out your Gmail email address and just having Google forward information on from the merchant.

[tags]google checkout, gmail, ritzcamera[/tags]

Darren Rowse (aka ProBlogger) has just reported that there is a Google Page Rank Update Rolling Out. A few hours earlier Andreas Kraus reported the same thing. There are some predictions that it will officially occur between July 7th and July 11th. More predictions on the exact day are going on at WebmasterCorner.

A good tool for PageRank prediction checking can be found here at iWebTool.com.

[tags]google, seo, pagerank, google pagerank update[/tags]

Here are 10 selected articles and the basic perspective from it about Google Checkout:

1. The New York Times – Google Aims to Speed the Online Checkout Line
   “For merchants, one concern is whether Google’s system, which is unfamiliar to users, will reduce the number of people who complete purchases on their sites, a measure known as the conversion rate.”
   
   
2. TechCrunch – Google Checkout offers low-cost transactions for sellers; what’s in it for me?
   “I like having a store of money in my PayPal account and automating monthly subscription payments. Neither of these appear to be an option with Google Checkout. I don’t know why I’d use Google Checkout over PayPal if I had a choice, and if I don’t have a choice I’m liable to resent it. Maybe someday all this data on my shopping habits will be used to better serve ads I’m interested in via Minority Report type billboards, Google style. I don’t know.”
   
   
3. ReveNews – Google Checkout Steps Up To the Plate
   “So, it all boils down to more advertising spending on Google AdWords, by affiliates as they get squeezed out more by Google, and from merchants because they may actually save money by doing it. Sounds like a win-win for Google.”
4. Mashable – Google Checkout Isn’t a Paypal Killer
   “All in all, it’s a smart play, but not the person-to-person Paypal killer some of us were hoping for. At least, not yet.”
5. Search Engine Watch – Google Launches Checkout, not the Rumored GBuy
   “For now, using Google Checkout will be a no-brainer for smaller merchants with limited budgets, as the program provides a valuable service for very low cost and offers additional benefits for advertisers. More established merchants may well want to wait to see how successful the program becomes before jumping in, keeping a close eye on the positioning of competitors’ ads who are using Checkout to see if their ads are getting a boost from consumers clicking through more frequently.”
6. Performancing – Google Checkout, Too Little, Too Late?
   “There are no person to person features in this at all yet, and there isn’t even a great deal in this for ecommerce transaction competitors such as Worldpay to be worried. Had any other company announced it, even Microsoft I think it would have been met with yawns. If you want to sell digital products off your blog and you participate in Adwords advertising it will be worth giving the service a look over, transaction fees can take a bite out of your profits. Anyone else, well, this is not the service we were looking for.”
7. PostBubble – Checking out Google Checkout
   “The bigger picture here is that this is setting up a battlefront for things like CBG. Google wants to control and they are beginning to pick their battles. We are seeing the directions Google is going and they are aiming to control markets in a step by step fashion with little moves like Google Checkout.”
8. Make You Go Hmm – Google Checkout worth checking out
   “For buyers, the only bad thing I can see is concerns over possible transaction privacy. Will Google use our buying history to show us more targeted ads? Amazon is the king at this strategy, so it wouldn’t surprise me but I can see some people being worried.”
9. Mathew Ingram – Google Checkout — future of micro-payments?
   “It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Google Checkout could become the fast and easy micro-payment system that many Web-heads have been anticipating for so many years.”
10. O’Reily XML Blog – Google Checkout API
    “Along with Checkout API Google also released Order Processing API, Notifications API and Merchant Calculations API to support the order processing features so you can move an order through the fulfillment cycle: capturing the payment, marking the order delivered, and so on.”

The O’Reily post is the most interesting to me from a technical standpoint, so I threw it in at the number 10 spot. I will be exploring the API shortly myself and am interested to see its possibilities.

Sorry I would post the other gazillion links, but you might as well head over to Technorati to see what the rest of the blogosphere is saying.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to put in my thought on this whole thing. A very interesting, yet not so unpredictable move by Google. Hmmm, well still too early to for me to make any serious remarks. But Google having my credit card information, makes me scared… Wait they already have it… Probably along with logs of everything else I have done over the past several years of my life.