For some time Google Checkout has been evolving into a kind of consumer shopping portal. And it appears that Google is making more of an effort to get consumers to use the site, including financial incentives and the ability to donate to charity. But Google has a “chicken and egg problem” with Checkout: merchants must adopt it before consumers can use it widely; but if consumers don’t use it or recognize it as something of value merchants won’t see a need to adopt it.
One interesting question is whether Checkout will eventually be to Froogle what Live is to MSN — a sucessor brand.
Here’s more from the Google Blog and on some Froogle-Checkout integration from the Google Checkout Blog.
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Here’s John Battelle’s largely negative review after using the service.
Screenwerk 
November 27, 2006 at 4:59 pm
I’ve used Google check-out 6+ times now. My primary motivation has been the total lower cost resulting from the google spiff. One thing I have noticed is the really bizare disconnect in their notifications. For example, I bought a bag through ebags using Google check-out, and 2 weeks after I received the bag, Google sent me a note saying the bag had been shipped that day.