Ebay Versus Google: The Showdown Begins?

18th June 2007

Warning: This is going to sound like kids beating each other in order to get their parents’ attention!

EBay have pulled all advertising from Google in the USA. Though there has been no official confirmation about the reasons behind this sudden withdrawal, it is most likely due to Google’s recent declaration of all-out war against eBay’s payment processing system, PayPal.

Google threw a party, called the Google Checkout Freedom Party” for the launch of Google Checkout in Boston on the same day that eBay had scheduled its user conference, eBay Live, in Boston. Google Checkout rivals eBay-owned PayPal, which is currently the most popular online payment system, especially on eBay.

The two Internet behemoths first crossed paths when eBay announced that it would broker radio ads on its own network, in competition with Google’s recent announcements to sell audio ads on their network.

While Google’s intention was to pressurise eBay to include Google Checkout as a payment option, the move backfired, and Google cancelled their party just one day before it was scheduled to happen.

EBay used to be Google’s largest advertiser in the US, accounting for 188 Million impressions in March. With eBay no longer advertising, this (dubious) honour has fallen upon Target, though they have less than half the volume that eBay did.

Google’s stock prices have fallen a bit over the last week, most probably due to the financial impact of losing their largest advertiser.

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Selling Stolen Bras On eBay Is Not OK | AccuraCast Search Daily News : 11 September 2008 at 8:57 pm

[...] The seller used various user IDs to sell his goods through eBay and PayPal. He sold around 2,000 bras in this manner. The goods, originally priced between $40-80 each, were sold for just $25 each, which is certainly a very tempting offer for shoppers. [...]