It's well known the fact that Google is offering only free solutions, most of them being accessible from a web-based interface with a freeware Google account. I know, there are a few exceptions like Google Mini and the premium versions of Google Apps, but the Mountain View firm is a free company. And it will remain the same because this attracts people. I'm not saying it, but Patrick Chanezon, a Google API team member, admits it. According to Uber Pulse, the Google employee sustained that Checkout will be offering a new promotion for the registered merchants that will keep the service available for free.

The story so far: since the release of the product, Checkout offered only free processing fees until December 31, 2006. As a special offer, the parent company Google decided to expand the program with one more year so the solution is currently available without any fee. However, starting with the end of the year, most of the merchants expect to pay for Checkout. Well, the good news come from the Checkout - AdWords interoperability that will keep the service somehow free. Why I'm saying "somehow"? Let me explain it to you:

Every Checkout merchant that is also registered for the AdWords advertising platform will benefit from a special Google promotion. Basically, he will receive a 10 times bigger credit for Checkout if he invests a certain amount of money in AdWords. "We will give merchants a credit valued at 10 times their spending in AdWords to pay for the Checkout processing fees. For example, if you spend $100,000 per month in buying AdWords, we will give you $1 million dollars in processing credits," the Google employee said according to Uber Pulse.

This move is obviously an important step for the battle with PayPal because the Google product is regarded as the best alternative for the famous solution that is currently the most used product in its category.