The Google Checkout payment gateway has been available in the US for four years, but Australian online shoppers have been denied the service up until the launch of Google Voice, which uses Checkout to add credit to an account.
Google is promoting a payments system to the newspaper industry that would let Web surfers pay a small amount for individual news stories, an idea that could help publishers struggling with the impact of the Internet.
People can create an online store in "a matter of minutes" with a new gadget application that uses Google's Checkout electronic payment service and its Docs spreadsheet application, Google announced Friday.