I feel about this like I felt about the Java app store: there is an obvious win for customers in the iP* App Store, because it is the only way to get apps on your device, but I doubt Sun/Google will be able to attract a large audience to their own app stores. What is the value proposition for users? A newer, marginally more convenient way to spend your money, with a large learning curve before you can actually consummate transactions?
Without the large built-in distribution there is nothing to recommend me using this instead of just putting my app on the public Internet.
If all google services start doing this, then perhaps they can tie it all together in a simple one password payment system like it is in iTunes/App Store.
The presumed need to use Google Checkout was the first thing I thought of when I read about the new store. There have been problems with people having their Google Checkout services shutdown and their funds denied, and that would make me nervous about using a service which forced me to rely on a Google Checkout account.
I guess you can do both public internet & Google Chrome App Store at the same time? Remember that this will also be tied to ChromeOS tablets/netbooks in the same way that the App Store is to the iPhone, whatever that's worth.
About the only advantage I can see is the ease of accepting payment. For a lot of devs I guess that is the number one thing going for the Apple AppStore.
No, the number on reason devs like the iphone app store is because it lets people use their software. If it's not on the app store then anyone who hasn't jailbroken their phone (the majority of iphone users), don't see your software at all.
Without the large built-in distribution there is nothing to recommend me using this instead of just putting my app on the public Internet.