Google is Developing a Paypal-Killer!!

[gsaldivar]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8264385/

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=bondsNews&storyID=8827946

http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2005-06-18-n54.html

Report: Google to start new payment system
Electronic service would rival eBay's PayPal
The Associated Press

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Online search-engine leader Google Inc. is preparing to introduce an electronic payment system later this year in a move that would pose a financial threat to one of its biggest advertisers, Internet auctioneer eBay Inc.

The Wall Street Journal reported Google?s plans on its Web site late Friday, citing sources familiar with the Mountain View-based company?s plans. The Journal did not provide any details about Google?s strategy.

A Google spokesman declined to comment on the report.

The likelihood of Google rolling out an online payment system to rival eBay?s popular PayPal service became a hot topic during an Internet conference hosted Thursday by Piper Jaffray.

?It could be a pretty big negative for eBay if it happens,? said Piper Jaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy, who follows Google as well as the Web?s leading auction site.

PayPal accounted for $233.1 million, or 23 percent, of eBay?s revenue during the first quarter.

San Jose-based eBay bought PayPal for $1.3 billion in 2002. The payment service makes money by collecting a fee from the transactions that it helps complete. The electronic accounts are funded by credit cards or banking account transfers.

Expanding into online payments might make Google less dependent on advertising, which accounted for nearly all of its first-quarter revenue of $1.26 billion. The merchants who run auctions on eBay are major buyers of Google?s ads, which appear alongside search results.

Google plans pay service to rival PayPal-WSJ
NEW YORK, June 17 (Reuters) - Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) this year plans to offer an electronic-payment service that could help the Internet-search company diversify its revenue and may heighten competition with eBay Inc.'s (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research) PayPal unit, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Exact details of the search company's planned service are not known, the report said, but quoted people familiar with the matter as saying it could have similarities with PayPal, which allows consumers to pay for purchases on Web sites by funding electronic-payment accounts from their credit cards or checking accounts.

A Google spokesperson contacted by Reuters declined comment.

For Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., a payment service could represent a significant expansion beyond online advertising, which generated 99 percent of its $3.2 billion in revenue last year, the Journal said. Online-payment providers typically take a commission on each transaction.

Depending on the exact details, Google's move could potentially threaten eBay's successful PayPal service, which generated $233.1 million, or 23 percent of eBay's revenue in the first quarter, the newspaper reported.

Rumors about a new Google payment service escalated following a panel discussion at a Piper Jaffray Internet conference on Thursday, the newspaper said.

At the conference, Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, a Morrisville, N.C. e-commerce consulting firm, said he believed the payment service would be launched soon, according to the newspaper.

In an interview, Wingo said he based his statement on questions from retailers with which his company works, according to the Journal.

Wingo said the retailers have asked him whether ChannelAdvisor would support the service, which some believe goes by the code name Google Wallet.

a bit of research ... found that two months ago, Google Inc filed the paperwork with the California Secretary of State and formed the Google Payment Corporation.

Yesssssssssssssssss!!! After all the Paypal horror stories (like this), I can't wait to see how Google tackes the online payments market. If nothing else, I think we can look forward to some major PayPal revamping in the near future. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Can someone please paste the WSJ article here? Thanks!

 

[simms]

^

 

[Passions]

*kicks self in the ass for not buying google stock*

 

[jpeyton]

THANK GOD!

Anything to make PayPal do a little more legwork in the customer service department.

If anyone can develop a popular alternative, it's Google.

 

[MrBond]

Holy crap - 25% of eBay's revenue is from paypal? I'd have never guessed it was that high.