Facebook is set to begin testing an expansion of its Gift Shop, for third-party developers to begin selling items to users for Facebook’s virtual currency. The really interesting part about this is that these developers can sell physical merchandise, not just Facebook gifts.

Google announced today that NetSuite is now a featured partner of Google Checkout. This means that NetSuite users can now offer Google Checkout as one of their payment options.

Back in May, it was reported that Facebook was going to begin testing a payments system. This inevitably led to discussion about how Facebook might be preparing to take on products like PayPal and Google Checkout.

Facebook will reportedly begin testing a payments system in the coming weeks. This will start with a few developers, exploring ways for users to use Facebook credits with third-party apps on Facebook.

Google Checkout is now offering a way for users to sell subscriptions. This is a feature that has apparently been requested quite heavily.

"Merchants will now have the ability to sell products and services that require recurring billing using our API," explains Software Engineer Andrew Cunningham. "So if you’re already comfortable building your own carts using Checkout, you’re ready to implement Subscriptions by consulting the documentation."

In early May, merchants will start being charged larger fees for using Google Checkout. Google is also discontinuing AdWords free transaction processing.

Google announced today that starting at the beginning of March, non-profit organizations who use Google Checkout will be subject to the standard fee structure. Previously, they have been able to use the service free of charge.

Back in October, when Google offered some tips for the then-upcoming holiday season, they suggested using Google Checkout badges in your AdWords ads. They said that ads that do this have a 10% higher clickthrough rate than those that don’t.