Google launching Checkout service to compete with PayPal
Published June 29th, 2006
Google launches its own payment service called Google Checkout, today.
The long-anticipated service will compete directly with eBay’s PayPal service, effectively ending a longstanding partnership between the two Internet giants. It will also put Google at the center of the money-transfer business, making Google a tempting target for everyone from fraudsters to government regulators.
If Google Checkout is successful, the company could reap big rewards. The transaction data for each person who makes a purchase, combined with their search history, could lead to advertising that takes into account their favorite stores and preferred brands. The more targeted the advertising, the more advertisers are willing to pay.
“The precision of this targeting could be revolutionary,” Jordan Rohan, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a recent note to investors.
The service will be available on Google sites to buy things such as videos, and on merchant Web sites across the Web, including Buy.com, Jockey.com and Backcountry.com, which participated in early tests.
Like PayPal, Google Checkout offers consumers safety and convenience. Instead of providing credit card numbers to merchants all over the Internet, shoppers give the card numbers to PayPal and Google Checkout, which process the payments on their behalf.
All a shopper has to do is enter an ID and password.
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