It counts as development, it just risks the loss of a tempo itself as demonstrated by 3. Nc3....

The queen is developed.  The issue is whether it is well developed.  There is no issue that white's knight is well placed.

Otherwise the position is asymetrical with each side having different half open files.  Had white made an error I'd say his more exposed king was a disadvantage.  But he hasn't.

Meh, you should also look at the 2.  exd5 nf6 lines for white.  many black players use those.

White has an advantage because Black's queen is developed early, but this does not constitute a gain of tempo. If the position started missing White's e-pawn and Black's d-pawn, and it were Black to move first, 1...Qd5 would be a terrible move. The Queen must move again in most lines of this opening, during which part White will effectively be up a tempo in addition to having the first move.

3.Nc3 does indeed gain a tempo BACK, but White can gain even more tempi by meeting 3...Qa5 with 4.b4!? at the cost of a pawn, and end up up on time, although the sacrifice is probably not the best way to proceed. IM pfren doesn't seem to value White's open b-file in that line by comparison to the 3...Qd6 variation.

I think White has a nice advantage in the main lines of the Scandinavian and that it is a relatively poor choice of Black opening, but that's just my opinion. At the beginner (<2000) level, it's probably a better choice than the Sicilian as long as you know not to play 3...Qc6 (the third most common move in my experience. 3...Qa5, 3...Qd6, 3...Qc6, 3...Qe5+, 3...Qe6+, 3...Qd8 being the moves I see most often)

"At the beginner (<2000) level.

Or <2133?

Well, I was just suggesting that the Sicilian Defense is inappropriate for anyone at beginner OR <2000 level. And online chess ratings are pretty meaningless, meant federation rating.

Who says queen moves don't count? Of course they do

I guess in looking at it again I would consider the queen move a bad move. For a few reasons: 

First and foremost I think the rule don't develop your queen early is axiomatic and if you break it you are just asking for trouble.

Second if you do move the queen out early you have to treat it like a king. If someone attacks the queen then you are forced to move it. No matter the postion because the it is only the third move of the game.

Third while I do think the queen being pushed out is a development move I don't like it if the best move, when attacked, is to return her to her original square.

Finally,3. nc3 lets white get a head start on the minor piece development   which in my opinion is far more important than having a developed queen-- at least early on.

We're all joking here, right? I mean, we all know that thr Scandanavian Defense (or Center-counter) is a very old, well established opening and that 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 has been established theory for over a century

First I'm hearing of it. I thought 3.Nc3 was a novelty introduced by Kasparov in 1991.

Of course, the old main line was 3. Ke2 Bongcloud style.

... And 3. ... Qe4#

There are general rules in chess such as do not move your queen early in the opening.  There are also exceptions to every rule and 1. e4  d5 

2. exd5  Qxd5 is one of them.  This opening is perfectly ok until and unless someone refutes it--but I have not seen a "refutation" yet that is a real refutation and not based on bad moves by Black.  

Since you can't refute good moves, only bad moves by Black can be refuted. Fortunately, he's already played two of them and will probably play more ;)

I refer you to my earlier post (#12)...

"I'll bet this is all in a book or something somewhere..." 

Using almost any opening you can say White is  slightly better in the opening.

Wasn't there somke anonymous player on the net about 5 years ago who was beating masters by opening 1. f3 2. Kf2

Some guy once did that to me.