You are here

Webopolies Google and eBay kiss and make up after spat

Reuters reports that ebay will "resume Web advertising on a limited basis with Google..." 

  • After witholding its advertising affections from Google for 10 long days, it appears that Google was sufficiently contrite and apologetic to eBay for its bad manners in competing with eBay by hosting a party for its competing online payment product, Checkout, in the same city as eBay's big confab that highlights it dominant online payment service, PayPal.

There are a few important points to be made about Internet "competition" here.

  • First, there is little competition in the online auction listings. According to Jupiter Research, eBay has 95% of the online auction market, hence my "webopoly" moniker" for eBay.
  • Second, eBay likes to tie its leading online payment service, PayPal to its online auction listings webopoly, because it does not allow its users to use Google's Checkout service.
    • Interesting actual behavior for a company that fears potential broadband access problems via no net neutrality. 
  • Third, there are some serious competitive conflicts of interest going on here between eBay and Google.
    • The mature auction webopoly, EBay  apparently was successful in teaching aspiring search webopoly, Google, a thing or to about competition on the web.
    • The message was "don't mess  with my webopoly, go dominate another corner of the Internet.
  • Fourth, it appears Google got the message and realized it is in their profit maximizing interest to not fully compete with eBay, but focus its efforts on further dominating its access to content "corner" of the Internet by buying up DoubleClick and Feedburner.