Several retailers have been quietly testing a Google payment system called GBuy, and users will see a GBuy icon next to AdWords paid search ads. PayPal has dominated the online payment field for some time. It has been a profitable business, one which eBay purchased in October 2002. & Z% W7 L5 W* R5 U( m
. T1 B7 c4 K' P" |PayPal delivered nearly a quarter of eBay's most recent quarterly revenue of $1.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal said in a report today. 6 ^* t. ]" Z6 @
! C8 V7 X" N4 e: t6 c h
That PayPal revenue may look like a big jar of chocolate chips to the Cookie Monsters at Google. Their rival system, called GBuy, has been getting a workout since the early part of 2005. The Journal cited a source briefed on the service:
5 g' @0 {3 Z7 o; K7 c8 k" s1 Y. F* W$ _3 G2 c: S5 n
3 ~: `2 a: |% U9 _, E9 d% W; S
For the last nine months, Google has recruited online retailers to test GBuy, according to one person briefed on the service. GBuy will feature an icon posted alongside the paid-search ads of merchants, which Google hopes will tempt consumers to click on the ads, says this person. GBuy will also let consumers store their credit-card information on Google.+ q$ W4 @4 M; P+ m3 x
2 [( G/ y8 w+ Q
Storing payment information has been an ease-of-use feature and strength of PayPal. Google has enough brand recognition to get a lot of attention. The Journal's report seems to suggest the way Google will get users on board will be through its GBuy retailers. But will eBay accept GBuy as a payment method? Probably, as long as eBay gets its cuts of a sale as is customary. 0 w, c7 }; b m2 b- ^1 Y
% y- Y8 Y4 v) O. ~The GBuy.com domain returns a "page not found" error when tested, so whatever Google has on tap isn't readily available yet. The domain has been registered to the Burbank, CA, firm Trout & Zimmer. SearchEngineWatch noted in September 2005 how the domain gcalendar.com was transferred from Trout & Zimmer to Data Docket Inc, a firm well known for registering domain names with Google as part of the name. " q" k. X/ S8 c3 T' z. G
) H8 n- _3 ]2 ^1 T. }1 D
Google, as per usual, had no comment on any pending products, the Journal said. |
|