Google Checkout is the ideal solution for secure eCommerce shopping; with the ability of the buyer to use any major credit card, and maintain privacy for the buyer and his or her supplied credit card information from being shared with any seller.

Online Privacy And Security of Financial Information is Extremely Important For Consumers and Corporate Buyers Alike

With the concern for online privacy and keeping one’s credit card information secure, choosing the most secure form of e-Commerce is at the highest priority level for consumers and business’ buyers wishing to shop at online e-Commerce wholesale and retail websites.

More and more eCommerce websites and online retailers are using the Google Checkout system for secure online transactions. This is making it much easier for any consumer making purchases, and for corporate buyers to shop online with full assurance of privacy of personal and business financial information, and quickly being able to make future purchases at other online retailers that accept the Google Checkout system for payment. Look for the “Google Checkout Buy Now Badge” of acceptance, for online retailers that accept the Google Checkout payment processing system.

Google Checkout is the Most Secure Payment Processing System

In my opinion, Google Checkout is one of the most secure forms of eCommerce available to the consumer or buyers for large or small businesses. An order can not be processed without first being initiated on the buyer’s end, and with first having full approval from the buyer (the purchaser), also initiated only on the buyer’s end. The seller can not charge more than what was originally approved by the buyer. The seller simply receives the order, and fills it for shipping. The seller can cancel orders or refund full or partial amounts only. Just like at any brick and mortar store, each retailer has their own return policy and refund policy. So, it is always a good idea to read the retailer’s return and refund policies closely before making an online purchase.

Google Checkout Option to Keep eMail Address Confidential

Google Checkout also provides the option of private emails too by using secure forms of email communications with online retailers. When making an online purchase with the Google Checkout system, simply select, “Keep my email address confidential” from the available check boxes, and your email address will not be shared. So, any forms of email communication with that retailer will automatically forward your email through the Google Checkout system, and keep it private from the online retailer.

You will see exactly what your account will be charged. Descriptions, Quantities, Prices, Taxes, and Shipping Charges will all be documented and verifiable before the “Place your order now” button is clicked.

Sign Up For Google Checkout

If you are a first time user of Google Checkout, you may sign up for Google Checkout prior to, or right at, the order process. Sign up for Google Checkout at: http://checkout.google.com. I also suggest reading the FAQs and key details of how the Google Checkout system works.

Once you are signed up for Google Checkout, you can then purchase any product or service, from any other retailer that accepts the Google Checkout payment processing system, and not have to fill in all your information again and again.

I personally am one that is super concerned about privacy online. So, I can vouch for the integrity of the Google Checkout eCommerce payment handling system.

Yes, I know there are other systems out there, but to me, the Google Checkout System seems to be the best fit for both parties involved. The buyer and the seller are joined together in an unbiased middle man role that keeps the buyer’s information private and secure, while at the same same time provides a great payment processing system for the retailer to conduct secure eCommerce online.

Marketing Hand Shaking

While you still may be leery of using any form of eCommerce for buying or selling goods or services online, it is wise to understand how business operates in general. The world of business operates on the exchange of products and services. Everything has to begin with trust and a hand shake at some point along the way. The buyer has to trust that the seller is providing the product or service they are purchasing. The seller has to trust that the buyer is going to pay for the product or service being rendered. What better way of encapsulating that trust factor than with a secure form of payment processing that is not only secure, but is also private, easy to use, and with verifiable handshaking going on between the buyer, the seller, payment system, and the delivery system. Google Checkout is really marketing at its finest. Marketing is defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. The term developed from the original meaning which literally referred to going to market, as in shopping, or going to a market to sell goods or services.

Jim Warholic
President, Professional Web Services, Inc.

Get your business established on the online market place today. Get the Internet marketing business solution now. Increase your online sales. Contact Jim Warholic for his company’s Internet marketing solution for your business today.

For the past two years or so, Comcast has offered free PC Internet security software if you are a Comcast customer it really is a great deal and highly advisable to take advantage of the free software for all your computers. Protect your email and Web browsing from infecting your computer today.

Get Protected

The all-new McAfee® Security Suite gives you a whole series of tools to help keep you, your family and your home computers safe, protected and virus-free. It’s an all-in-one, comprehensive, easy-to-install solution-and a $120 value, included FREE with your Comcast High-Speed Internet subscription. No strings attached.

Install Internet Security Software For Your PC

The importance of installing Internet security software on your PC can not be overstated. In my case, our family has six computers that are used by various family members. The Comcast Internet Security Suite by McAfee is a great value. With the proliferation of viruses, worms, malware, and intrusive cookies, a computer will become corrupted in no time flat when surfing the Web even if you don’t download anything online. Just simply hooking up your computer to the Internet and navigating to a few hazardous websites that you might not be aware of, will attack and download software in the background which will corrupt your computer and the worst part about it is you won’t even know your computer has become infected until it’s too late.

Internet Security Issues

Intrusive software that are security hazards such as PC key loggers can automatically track your key strokes when you type in your user names and passwords into online banking websites or even when you log in to your online email is just an online mouse click away. Many times this software gets loaded on your computer when you click on a window that pops up, and the popup makes it look like you have a virus on your computer. By simply clicking on the scan button of this pop up window, you are actually installing another malware program in the background. Don’t fall for this scam. It occurs so easily, even when users are aware that this can happen; it is easy to click the close button by thinking that the “X” close box closes the window with nothing else to worry about. However, don’t assume the close X button on a pop up window is the actual close button for that window. I suggest right clicking on the tab at the bottom of the Windows screen, and select the button that says “Close” on the pop up that you actually wish to close. Also it is wise to have a pop up blocker for your browser. I particularly like Firefox and even the new Google Chrome browser for the excellent popup blocking features.

Spyware, Malware, Adware, and Computer Virus Definitions

• Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user’s interaction with the computer, without the user’s informed consent.
• Malware, is a blended word from the words malicious and software, which is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.
• Adware or advertising-supported software is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer after the software is installed on it or while the application is being used. Some types of adware are also spyware and can be classified as privacy-invasive software.
• A Computer Virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The term “virus” is also commonly used, albeit erroneously, to refer to many different types of malware and adware programs.

Source Wikipedia

Comcast Has Done It Right

I am really impressed with the marketing strategy from Comcast to their customers. With Comcast keeping their customers’ PC computers running free of viruses, with a free Internet security software tool, enables their customers to operate at a higher level of Internet protection than most of their competitors. Most ISPs simply provide you online Web access, with an attitude of “you’re on your own now,” which simply leaves way too much room for PC problems down the line. Computers are the tool to navigate the Web. If your computer is giving you grief, you are not going to have a very good user experience online. Likewise, if your computer runs trouble free, your life online will be like a breath of fresh air.

What if I am not a Comcast customer? Google Pack comes to the rescue.

Google provides a couple of free basic programs as part of their Google Pack for detecting and removing viruses and spyware.

Google Pack includes a special edition of Norton Security Scan to help you evaluate your computer’s vulnerability to security risks. Norton™ Security Scan is a free, easy-to-use tool that scans your PC for viruses, spyware, and other threats. » Download Google Pack.

Key Features of Norton Security Scan

* Scans for threats residing on your PC
* Detects and removes viruses, worms, and Trojan horses
* Warns you of spyware and unwanted adware
* Schedules regular scans
* Automatically receives updates**

Take the next step and prevent infections before they happen. Protect your system 24 X 7 with our award-winning Norton Internet Security™ 2009, designed to automatically block hackers, viruses, spyware and prevent online identity theft.

The other software tool from Google is Spyware Doctor Starter Edition which detects PC threats and removes spyware, adware, trojans and keyloggers. Spware Doctor Starter Edition includes Smart Updates and scheduling to protect your PC.

Both Norton Internet Security and Spyware Doctor can be downloaded directly from the Google Pack software installer page.

There are other free antivirus software programs available online. I have not tried very many of the free software programs that are available, so I can’t give you my recommendations. I would however suggest reading closely the reviews of what others have to say about the various free programs available for download. Be careful from where you download too. I believe a good place to get started is at CNET download.com for Antivirus Software. Note that the sponsored matches are displayed first. Two software programs that I have used in the past for detecting adware, spyware, and malware are Spybot – Search & Destroy^©® and Ad-Aware by Lavasoft.

A general rule that should always be followed when installing antivirus software, is always use some form of threat protection software, but don’t use more than one type in automatic detection mode. The reason is the software programs will be fighting each other in the Windows Operating Systems and will be identifying the other software as a virus, spyware, adware, or malware program.

The best antivirus software programs will constantly update their database of spyware signatures and virus definitions and provide automatic PC updates for your local signature database. This is an extremely important point to be aware of because the virus threats are constantly morphing from computer terrorists all over the world, that are looking for ways of creating online havoc for everyone. You need both real time PC protection and automated deep scan protection. If you have an old copy of a PC anti-virus software, that has not had your local computer database updated to current virus signature threats, you are driving a computer on borrowed time, with no brakes, headed down a steep grade, just waiting for the head-on computer crash. Given the severity of the online PC virus threats (through both emails and web surfing), along with spyware, adware, and malware programs lurking on websites, your computer could very well end up with the blue screen of death. At the very least, your computer will become corrupted, slowed down to a crawl, performance will continue to suffer when trying to do anything, system resources will be tied up with running background programs that you are not aware of, memory usage will skyrocket, your hard drive will constantly be ca-chunking away, and you will think you need a brand new computer. I would venture to say that the majority of people that think they need a new computer are probably facing years worth of unsafe computer practices. Even if you buy a new computer and do not set up “best computer practices”, you are very likely to start the downward spiral all over again, because you invariably will want to copy your corrupted files, pictures, and programs over to the new computer. And, you will once again get on the PC merry-go-round, where you will certainly end up visiting the same websites, surfing new Internet sites where the online threats reside, and downloading and installing new virus infected software programs which will ultimately affect your PC’s health.

From a consumer standpoint trust me when I say, take the small amount of time now to get your online computer house in order. If you don’t take computer protection preventative measures now, you will surely be taking extensive time measures and creating PC headaches for yourself in the future just by surfing the web unprotected.

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