eBay, Google, Dummies, Prams
eBay has pulled all its sponsored advertising off Google in the USA.
What a shame; that means Americans won't be seeing adverts for idiots for sale on eBay (this link shows adverts still operating in the UK)
The alleged cause of this drastic action? Cheeky Google planned a big party promoting Google Checkout on the same day and in the same city as eBay's premier seller event, eBay Live.
And at the root of it all is eBay's refusal to negotiate with Google over the use of Google Checkout as a mechanism for buyers or sellers. Google Checkout, of course, is a direct competitor to eBay's own PayPal. Google Checkout is banned for use on eBay.
eBay's position is that Google Checkout is unproven, and eBay expresses concerns over Google Checkout's fraud and security issues.
Perhaps it really has something to do with keeping competitors off the PayPal turf?
The upshot is that removal of PPC advertising has cost eBay a 7% drop in traffic from Google. Google is the number one source of traffic for ebay.com. I would have expected a more dramatic drop, but the Hitwise analysis of the spat reveals the top search terms in Google are for the eBay domain name or eBay brand.
As for Google, the value of the lost advertising is estimated at $25 million, and eBay is Google's largest AdWords customer.
So, big money is involved. As is usually the case money talks, and no doubt they will kiss and make up soon.
What a shame; that means Americans won't be seeing adverts for idiots for sale on eBay (this link shows adverts still operating in the UK)
The alleged cause of this drastic action? Cheeky Google planned a big party promoting Google Checkout on the same day and in the same city as eBay's premier seller event, eBay Live.
And at the root of it all is eBay's refusal to negotiate with Google over the use of Google Checkout as a mechanism for buyers or sellers. Google Checkout, of course, is a direct competitor to eBay's own PayPal. Google Checkout is banned for use on eBay.
eBay's position is that Google Checkout is unproven, and eBay expresses concerns over Google Checkout's fraud and security issues.
Perhaps it really has something to do with keeping competitors off the PayPal turf?
The upshot is that removal of PPC advertising has cost eBay a 7% drop in traffic from Google. Google is the number one source of traffic for ebay.com. I would have expected a more dramatic drop, but the Hitwise analysis of the spat reveals the top search terms in Google are for the eBay domain name or eBay brand.
As for Google, the value of the lost advertising is estimated at $25 million, and eBay is Google's largest AdWords customer.
So, big money is involved. As is usually the case money talks, and no doubt they will kiss and make up soon.
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