Google Claims That Google Checkout Increases Conversion By 40% & Clicks By 10%

Jan 6, 2009 at 10:07am ET by Barry Schwartz

Google has added claims to its Google Checkout Merchant homepage that having Google Checkout as part of your AdWords ads will lead to higher conversions and a better click through rate. Google specifically writes that conversions will increase by 40% and the click-through-rate on your ads will increase by 10%.

Here is a screen capture from the page:

I spotted this via Google Blogoscoped, which has also documented the various Google checkout badges Google has used throughout the years. As you can see, having the Google Checkout badge makes the ad stand out from the other ads. So I am not surprised by the 10% claim. The 40% claim does seem a bit high, but who knows how they came to those numbers.

Google first changed to a larger badge set about two years ago and then added a more colorful option in August.

Postscript: Google has sent Google Blogoscoped a statement on these claims. Let me share it with you because it makes a big difference:

Google isn’t actually saying that there is 10% gain in CTR. It’s saying there is a 10% gain in CTR for “Google Checkout users”.

Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.

See more articles by Barry Schwartz >

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chiropractic, January 7th, 2009 at 2:27 am ET:
Premium member since 01/2009

I don’t know about the science behind it but when I do a shopping search I almost always go for the google checkout enabled store (unless priced far too high). Don’t mind paying few extra dollars for the ease of use.

Philipp Lenssen, January 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm ET:

Thanks for adding the update Barry. Just FYI, the person who pointed out the correction was someone commenting, it was not a Google employee via email… (though I don’t know if he, Ben Milleare, happens works for Google…)

Google Claims That Google Checkout Increases Conversion By 40% & Clicks By 10%

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