Google announced Friday it is testing various techniques to help users identify Google Checkout stores when they search. The news came from Associate Product Manager for Google Checkout, Jonathan Berger, in a posting on the Official Google Checkout blog. The filtering option gives ecommerce merchants additional incentive to accept Google's payment-processing service.

In addition to being able to filter search results on Froogle to find Checkout stores, a feature Google rolled out in September, it is testing new Google Checkout "buttons" on AdWords advertisements. "The experimental badge we're testing uses a Checkout button rather than a cart image to identify Checkout merchants. This test will appear on a very small percentage of queries and we look forward to learning from experiments like this so we can ensure Checkout continues to deliver value to everyone - especially our users who are eager to find fast, secure places to shop when they search."

Google is also making it easier to find Checkout stores in product search results. For example, a search for "laser pointer" on Google.com shows clustered links at the top of the page for "product search results"; Google recently added an extra link to this section linking to results exclusively from Google Checkout stores.

Berger wrote, "One of our core beliefs is to focus on the user. We know that when it's time to shop, our users often start by searching, and that they're looking for places to shop that are convenient and secure. Checkout addresses this need by making online shopping quick and safe, from search to purchase. As always, our goal is to improve the user experience by providing more relevant information whenever users choose to search and shop with Google."

http://googlecheckout.blogspot.com/2007/01/in-search-of-checkout.html