Google is developing a micropayment platform that will be “available to both Google and non-Google properties within the next year,” according to a document the company submitted to the Newspaper Association of America. The system, an extension of Google Checkout, would be a new and unexpected option for the news industry as it considers how to charge for content online.

Micropayments are very important these days because there so many services which costs just 1 or two dollars. Think about MP3 downloads of in this case to buy your daily newspaper.

The question is who can use this future Google checkout extension? Only credit card holders? In several countries a credit card is not a "normal" payment method. Maybe Google should offer a virtual wallet as well...