July 6th, 2006
Google vs. eBay: collaborative competition?
I noted in my June 21 story, “Google Content Referral Network vs. eBay Affiliate Network”:
Lucky for eBay and Google that both the Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, and the eBay CEO, Meg Whitman, both believe in the power of “collaborative competition”…both eBay and Google are increasingly targeting each other’s turf, while still declaring they are the best of partners.
June 19, in “Google and eBay CEOs agree: growth through more partnerships” I cited Whitman on Google:
I think the most interesting thing about the last couple of years is this, you know, cooperation and competition…Google is a very important part of our strategic alliances and we do a lot with them. But, you know, they’re also going to compete with us in a number of areas.
The Google Checkout launch last week, however, may be impacting the tenuous “collaborative competition” eBay and Google have been fostering to date.
According to Auction Bytes, “eBay Bans Sellers from Using Google Checkout.” eBay continues, however, to strongly encourage sellers to "offer payments through PayPal."
eBay’s “Accepted Payments Policy” states:
eBay wants to ensure that the marketplace offers buyers an array of safe, appropriate, and convenient payment choices for the marketplace. As described in our safe buying guide, eBay strongly encourages sellers to offer payments through PayPal – PayPal is not only convenient to use, but it also offers buyers and sellers industry leading protection against fraud, chargebacks and theft of financial data.
Merchants with their own merchant credit card processing account, and those who use a third-party credit card processor, may also offer their buyers the option of paying directly with a credit card online (including through third party checkout) or by phone.
From time to time, as new payment services arise, eBay will evaluate them to determine whether they are appropriate for the marketplace. Payment services that are not permitted on eBay may, in fact, be outstanding services for consumers in other contexts. eBay’s evaluation relates only to whether a particular service is appropriate for the eBay marketplace. eBay will consider the following factors, among others, in making its determination:
• Whether the payment model offers substantial financial, privacy and anti-fraud protection for buyers and sellers
• Whether the payment model raises the potential for confusion among eBay users, or involves incentives that may present fraud concerns
• Whether the payment model involves precious metals, or other non-cash (points, miles, minutes, coupons, discounts) as consideration
• Whether the payment service has a substantial historical track record of providing safe and reliable financial and/or banking related services (new services without such a track record generally cannot be promoted on eBay)
• The identity, background and other business interests of the payment service sponsor
• The license/regulatory status of the payment provider in the countries where it provides payment services
Google Checkout is listed by eBay under the category “Payment Services not permitted on eBay.”
MORE ON GOOGLE and MORE ON EBAY
