Can’t We All Just Get Along?!?!

Sometimes it kills me the way corporate America behaves … often like 8 year olds … and no disrespect to my 8 year old daughter with that comment.

While there has been an ongoing feud between Google and eBay, it has sprung new life. eBay announced that they were pulling all their ads from Google due to a “protest party” Google was throwing during eBay Live in Boston. You know, the great ads that you would see that were so relevant. If you searched for “dirt” you would see:

Looking for Dirt?
Find it on eBay!

Without realizing it at the time, I have been seeing fewer and fewer of those ads as I do my competitive analysis in the affiliate space I am in. I for one, won’t miss those ads and I have no plans to resurrect my eBay affiliate account. With their “session only” cookie the conversions are just horrible.

The party in question was a huge party right during eBay Live called “Let Freedom Ring” which was going to feature Google Checkout as the alternative to PayPal (owned by eBay). Google has cancelled the party for reasons that it felt it was better not to do it right during eBay Live. Of course, they came to this conclusion after talking with eBay officials.

So, where will this take us and why am I reporting this being an SEO guy? Well, this could take a bad turn as if the two companies continue to dig their heels in. At last check eBay wouldn’t allow Google Checkout as an option for payment on an eBay auction. Will Google follow suit? Give a “penalty” or “filter” for sites offering PayPal as a payment method? It could happen.

How much was eBay spending with Google? A nice chunk of change. According to the numbers, conservative estimates place the spend at $270 million per year. Check out the following screenshot.

Check out those numbers, over a quarter million ads that eBay had and three quarters of a million organic listings. Those are powerful numbers.

While Google’s stock went up with the news, others are calling for a huge fall due to the revenue lost from eBay leaving. The revenue will get mopped up from other advertisers. Many are already very happy that they can better compete in their space with eBay gone. Google may see a slight drop in ad revenue, but it will just be a slight one.

If you use PayPal as a processing method, now is the time to head over and give Google Checkout a look.