Google Checkout Launch Checklist

The following checklist will help you to ensure that your customers will have a smooth and consistent shopping experience with Google Checkout. For more information about Google Checkout policies, please review the product Terms of Service, visit the policies page or email the support team at checkout-merchant-support@google.com (or checkout-merchant-support-uk@google.com if you are in the U.K.).

Following these guidelines can increase your eligibility for inclusion in the Google Checkout store directory, which highlights storefronts to Google Checkout buyers at no cost to the merchant. To apply for inclusion in the store directory, please email checkout-promotions@google.com (or checkout-promotions-uk@google.com if you are in the U.K.), providing your merchant account log-in email address as well as a preferred display name and product category for your store.

The launch checklist is divided into the following sections:

• Technical Requirements
• Button Placement
• Branding Guidelines

Technical Requirements

• We have updated the URLs for all of our Google Checkout buttons and for all of our HTML forms that contain Google Checkout buttons to include our merchant ID. (The second step of the Google Checkout sign-up process explains how to locate your merchant ID.)

• For each of our HTML forms that submits to Google Checkout, the <form> tag includes the accept-charset attribute with the value utf-8.

• Each HTML form that submits to Google Checkout contains the following hidden input field:

  <input type="hidden" name="_charset_"/>
  

• If there are multiple items in a customer's shopping cart, then any HTML form that submits to Google Checkout includes the necessary information for all of those items.

• For each item in an order, our forms include a value for the following input fields: item_name_#, item_description_# and item_price_#.

• If we charge tax, then our HTML forms contain the tax_rate hidden input field with the tax rate specified correctly. For example, a tax rate of 6.5 percent is represented by the field value 0.065.

• If we charge tax, then our HTML forms correctly specify the area where we charge tax. The following guidelines explain how to correctly specify a tax area:

  • Use the tax_us_state hidden input field and specify a two-letter U.S. state abbreviation as the value for that field.

  • Use the tax_country hidden input field and specify a two-letter ISO 3166 country code as the value for that field.

  • Do not use the tax_us_state hidden input field as well as either the tax_country or the tax_postal fields in the same HTML form.

• Our HTML forms correctly specify our shipping methods, the cost for each shipping method and the areas where we ship orders. We have tested this functionality by submitting a sample order and entering at least one valid shipping address and at least one address in an area where we do not ship. For example, if we ship anywhere in the United States, we could enter one address in New York and one address in France.

• If our prices are in British pounds rather than U.S. dollars, then we include the item_currency_# hidden input field for each item in the order and specify GBP as the currency value.

  <input type="hidden" name="item_currency_1" value="GBP"/>
  <input type="hidden" name="item_currency_2" value="GBP"/>
  

Button Placement

The following items ensure that we follow Google Checkout button, content and program policies.

• We use Google-hosted button images, unchanged in size, shape, or orientation .

• Our goods and services adhere to Google Checkout content policies, and we display the 'Google Checkout not available' button for any items outside these policies.

• Our Google Checkout buttons are immediately above or below every existing checkout button or link on our website.

• At least 95% of the items we sell on our website can be bought using Google Checkout.

In addition, these guidelines ensure that we provide an ideal checkout flow for our users.

• Our Google Checkout buttons are visible before buyers have to enter any personal information, e.g. names, email addresses, phone numbers, postcodes, etc.

• On clicking the Google Checkout button, buyers are directed to the Google Checkout confirmation page within one second, without seeing any intermediate pages.

• Buyers who click their browser's "Back button" go from the Google Checkout confirmation page directly back to our site, without seeing any intermediate pages.

• The Google Checkout confirmation page doesn't open in a new browser window.

• We do not require that our buyers' shopping carts reach a minimum value before they can checkout with Google Checkout, as outlined in the product Terms of Service.

Branding Guidelines

The following guidelines ensure that we clearly message information about Google Checkout to our customers.

• We present Google Checkout to our buyers as a distinct checkout flow which supports a number of payment types, not as a payment type in itself such as Visa, Mastercard, etc.

• On our homepage, we display a standard Google Checkout acceptance logo to let buyers know they can make purchases with Google Checkout.

• We display a 'What is Google Checkout?' link below our Google Checkout button, with a link which directs buyers to a page explaining Google Checkout benefits.