Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

eBay Looking for Allies Against Google

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the man-the-gates-bring-around-the-cannon dept.

Vitaly Friedman writes "A report in the Wall Street Journal today talks about how eBay is looking for partners to defend against the growing threat of Google. Specifically, Google Base and the payment system in the works in Mountain View are seen as possible dangers to eBay's auctions and PayPal payment operations, says the report. Google Talk just throws some salt in the wounds by looking for a toehold in Skype's turf."

4 of 216 comments (clear)

  1. One good outcome of Google Payments.. by WarwickRyan · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is that eBay will be forced to stop screwing their customers http://www.paypalsucks.com/ and improve their service.

    Oh the joys of competition.

  2. Re:I for one welcome our Google payment overlords by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I would too, but not just for the usual reasons that are cited against PayPal. I don't use paypal for a lot of reasons, and one of them is that it is seen as unprofessional. (For example, a professional organization I belong to needs a way to take cc payments over the web, but is too small for a merchant acct. And PayPal makes you look like a doofus, like an aol email addy.) Because Google is so much "cooler" and trendier, it would be easier to get google payment adopted instead of PayPal. I have no idea why PayPal seems so hokey... Is it the name?

    --
    And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
  3. I remember when Wal-Mart was young . . . by mmell · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I actually was willing to drive an hour to shop at Wal-Mart; there was nothing even remotely like it in the major cities.

    I actually was willing to learn to type "http://www.google.com" instead of "http://www.altavista.com" to search on Google; even from the outset, no other search engine came close to their level of quality (read: good search results).

    Nowadays, Wal-Mart routinely grinds competition unto the dust. Woe betide the small businessman whose future neighbor is a Wal-Mart Supercenter. They're big, monopolistic, anti-competitive, predatory . . . all of the wonderfully evil traits which characterize success in our free enterpise system. This makes them fairly well hated, the price of success.

    Nowadays, Google is percieved as the ultimate digital destructor - crushing internet opposition wherever it rises, brutally redefining markets and networking in that fashion most likely to lead to their own growth and the demise of competing technologies.

    Either you love free enterprise or you hate it - either way, I wouldn't trust it!

  4. What about the advertising? by AusIV · · Score: 4, Interesting
    If eBay wants to fight google, they should stop being one of google's biggest advertisers. Search for any noun on google, you get an ad telling you that it can be found on Google. Example:

    A search for George Bush provides:
    George Bush
    Looking for George Bush?
    Find exactly what you want today.
    www.eBay.com

    A search for Eggs provides:
    Eggs
    All your favorite collectibles!
    Eggs and more -aff
    Ebay.com

    A search for Milk provides:
    Milk
    Save on Glass and Glassware!
    Milk and more -aff
    Ebay.com

    In fact, I dare you to find a noun you can search for on google without coming up with an eBay add. As near as I can tell, eBay is Google's single largest advertiser. If they want to hurt google, they should start by cutting off some funding.