Google still seems to be pulling out all the stops to promote its Checkout service.  A press release issued from the search company this morning highlights a Valentine's Day promotion being advertised on a number of online stores: 

Through February 15, first-time shoppers on Google Checkout will receive $10 off a one-time purchase of at least $10. This offer is being featured on a wide variety of Google Checkout's thousands of merchant partners, including Buy.com, Zales, Jockey, Bluefly, Aeropostale, and new partner Blue Nile.

This isn't the first time Google has offered to buy users for the Checkout service.  During the holidays, users of Google Checkout received up to $30 off their purchases.  Google is also waiving transaction fees for merchants through 2007 (which basically just means Google is paying them for the merchants).  And even though all of the promotion is likely hurting Google's bottom line, the company continues on into Valentine's Day with more "free" money.

The press release also contains some stats collected from a Google Checkout-commissioned study (conducted by Harris Interactive) about consumer's Valentine's Day spending habits: 

 Among U.S. adults who typically buy Valentine’s Day gifts:

• 50% indicated that they purchase multiple Valentine’s Day gifts.
• Although men and women (both 71%) are equally likely to typically buy at least one Valentine’s Day gift, women (56%) are more likely than men (44%) to buy multiple gifts.
• 55% of men indicated that they plan to buy for spouse, compared with 44% of women.
• These adults are more likely to buy Valentine's Day gifts for their pets (6%) than their fathers (5%) or grandfathers (1%).
• Women (83%) are more likely than men (74%) to indicate that they typically buy a Valentine’s Day gift for at least one family member.
• 41% indicated that they plan to purchase from more than one store/website this Valentine’s Day.
• 11% indicated that they typically spend $10 or less. On average, U.S. adults spend about $70 in total on Valentine’s Day gifts.

With only a week left until Valentine's day, Google may be doing this more for the PR aspect than for actual usage.  As of right now, the Google Checkout Blog and the Official Google Blog are both silent on the promotion.  You'd think they would have announced this a little earlier if they really wanted people to take advantage of it.  But who knows… maybe the promotions running at their partner sites have been up longer.  And by the time I post this it's quite possible that Google will have said something on their blog(s).

At any rate, if you still have some Valentine's Day (or Singles Awareness Day as I've heard it also called) giftage left to buy, and you haven't used Google Checkout before (because the promo is only for first-time users), it might not be a bad idea to let Google chip in $10 on your gift.

Related Link: Shopping Carts