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. ' M+ E! P8 Y' j7 N
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PayPal delivered nearly a quarter of eBay's most recent quarterly revenue of $1.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal said in a report today. 5 h$ ]) ^/ J: m) t( _& B" `
. d* S; {0 `+ n$ W! x7 X; UThat 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:
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2 q9 j8 h. e/ Z7 k. i$ |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.
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, s% \, L3 |8 r$ L3 ZStoring 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.
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- J' Y! ?8 G, l3 W: YThe 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. 1 p9 F1 ?. S* y6 }: |: G6 K' _
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Google, as per usual, had no comment on any pending products, the Journal said. |
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