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eBay Pulls US Ads from Google Pages

By Ed Oswald, BetaNews

June 13, 2007, 3:34 PM

Tensions between eBay and Google rose on Wednesday after the auction site decided to pull some of its ads from the search engine's AdWords program.

The move only affects ads within the United States. eBay will continue to run ads through the program outside of the country. While the company is saying the move is part of a regular switch in strategies to determine the best use of advertising dollars, some are saying differently.

An unnamed source told IDG that the move was payback for Google's decision to hold a protest outside of its eBay Live conference. The search giant is protesting the ban on Google Checkout in its online auctions.

Making matters worse, the Mountain View, Calif. company has decided to market the party to the media, which is apparently making eBay upset. Meetings have been taking place at eBay to decide whether the sanctions should go further, the source claims.

The move is somewhat curious: not too long ago, Google was claiming its service was not intended to compete with PayPal directly. However, with adoption of its service increasing, the opposite now appears to be the case.

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By horsecharles

posted Jun 14, 2007 - 2:44 PM

Ebay's shooting itself in the foot here-- it needs Google way more than the other way around... & its business can one day go kaput, taken over by Google & Craigslist.

Score: 0

By slowride

posted Jun 15, 2007 - 1:41 AM

In agreement with you there -- SOMETHING is eventually going to tilt the scale (or not).

Also agree that ebay is not only greedy, but a PAIN in the A** to "negotiate". They brought in their followers with a fairly simple, secure, and straight forward service. Using it now is much like getting through airport security to buy over-priced peanuts. There are some smaller, more "left of center" sites, such as storm-pay which at my last check had automotive postings FREE....

What keeps ebay, and Google, afloat is the vast majority of knee-jerk mouse-clickers that don't know how to find better services. Yahoo, For a researcher of "obscuria", leaves google in the dust. Gigablast isn't far behind. Also, these engines work just fine through my firewall that blocks most all the tracking snoopz.

Try blocking "Above net revenue Science" (209.249.142.0-209.249.142.255) and Gurgle gasps and sputters ;-)

Not such a bad thing. There will be enough "smart traffic" hitting the better providers and services to keep them improving... And available for more discerning netizens...

Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Score: 0

By psycros

posted Jun 14, 2007 - 1:51 AM

I've been half expecting something like this ever since Ebay bought Paypal. If Google Checkout is charging sellers less to process transactions then obviously Paypal will lose business, and Google loses revenue. Ebay is a greedy outfit if ever there was one, and their not about to simply start COMPETING for your auction business..they'll do all they can to shut the competition out of the market first. Sorry, Ebay, Google is the advertising gatekeeper of the 'net. If you don't get the eyeballs they deliver then pretty soon they'll be a hot new auction site at the top of every search page. Google Auctions, perhaps..?

Score: 0

By netjustin

posted Jun 13, 2007 - 6:06 PM

The one thing that makes Paypal effective is uniform adoption of its service by the consumer. Their customer service, OTOH, is horrid should you be unfortunate enough to need it.

Whether or not Google Checkout can fill a customer needs vacuum is, of course, to be determined. At the very least, Ebay ought to be prodded into giving them a chance.

Score: 0

By 7welker7

edited Jun 16, 2007 - 11:43 AM

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Checkout was not 'conceived' as a competitor to Paypal...the point is, it will be 'perceived' as a competitor by eBay customers primarily because eBay has strong-armed users into believing Paypal is the only safe way to buy and sell on eBay, and it's not. Visit the Paypal forum boards on eBay sometime...there is a definite perception problem, and you know what they say...perception may not be reality, but it's just as real.

Score: 0

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