Valleywag: google checkout

Google's anti-eBay subterfuge exposed

Nicholas Carlson — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:40:00 PDT

eBay plans require its Australian buyers and sellers to complete all their transactions through its PayPal payments service. The only holdup? A 38-page, anonymous filing to an Australian regulatory agency, claiming the real purpose of eBay's rule change "is to substantially lessen competition in the Market for Online Payment Processing Services." The fighting-words filing isn't so anonymous anymore. An AuctionBytes reader discovered the 38-page PDF filing was created by Google.

The file had an electronic stamp showing it was generated from a Microsoft Word document titled ""ACCC Submission by Google re eBay Public 2.DOC." So much for the secret jab. Google runs its own payments service, Google Checkout, and the PayPal rivalry is often intense. Last summer, Google planned a Boston Tea Party to promote Checkout to merchants during the eBay Live conference in Boston. eBay complained and, even though Google canceled the event, eBay pulled its advertising from the site for several weeks.

California man successfully scams Google out of $8,225

Jackson West — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:40:00 PDT

Plumas Lake, California's Michael Sargent managed to roll a ton of pennies into a five-figure pay day by gaming E-Trade, Charles Schwab and Google Checkout customer verification systems in an ingenious scheme reminiscent of the one perpetrated by characters Peter, Michael and Samir in 1999's cubicle culture classic Office Space. Using aliases, including character names from Office Space director Mike Judge's cartoon King of the Hill, Largent used a script to sign up for new accounts and then collect the few cents used to verify his checking account information. In six months he managed to milk E-Trade and Schwab for over $50,000 according to Wired. And now he's indicted on charges of computer fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. But while the Secret Service says he bilked Google Checkout for $8,225.29, he's not being indicted on charges related to that part of the plan. Granted, even if he doesn't have to return that money, he'll probably have to spend it on lawyers.

Google and the seven dwarfs

Nicholas Carlson — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:20:00 PDT

Google's collection of Web properties somtimes seem unconnected and disorganized. But there's a common thread between Print Ads, Audio Ads, TV Ads, Checkout, YouTube, Postini and DoubleClick. Can you guess what it is?

The answer:

All are described as "not material" to Google's bottom line in SEC filings.

Google launches Froogle Products Shopping

Jordan Golson — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:45:44 PST

Why the frenzy of end-of-year redesigns at Google? Last week we noticed that Google was launching a new sidebar with Video and Products results. This evening, Google changed the "Products" button on its home page and search result pages to "Shopping."

Originally called Froogle, a pun on "frugal," Google Product Search has never really gotten the attention it deserved. It could have posed a threat to eBay or Amazon.com, especially when combined with Google Checkout, but it never really caught on. Additionally, for anyone who has ever used it, it's certainly not the best product finder out there. I much prefer Amazon, with its huge collection of third-party merchants, for my shopping needs.

Regardless, we're in the thick of the holiday shopping season and many, many buyers are turning to the Internet to find gifts without braving the mall. I'm buying all my gifts on Amazon. I have spent two to three times more at Amazon.com this year because of free two-day shipping from Amazon Prime. Larry and Sergey, when you give me something as awesome as that in Google Shopping, you'll have a convert. Until then, Jeff Bezos gets my hard-earned bucks.

Only half our users hate us!

Owen Thomas — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:20:52 PDT

Poor, deluded Meg Whitman. The eBay CEO is so out of touch with her customers' discontent that she brags to Bloomberg News about this fact: Less than half of the users of PayPal, eBay's online-checkout service, think it's "good." Granted, Google Checkout, the search engine's rival payment product, comes off less well. But Whitman should be distraught, not gleeful, at such low customer-satisfaction scores.