EBay has pulled all of its paid search ads from Google AdWords network in the U.S in an eyebrow-raising move likely to be interpreted in the industry as a sign of deteriorating relations between the two Internet giants.Durzy characterized the decision to pull the U.S. Google ads as an instance in a continued experiment eBay does to determine the best allocation of its advertising and marketing budget.
But a source familiar with the situation said the move is an angry reaction by eBay's management to Google's decision to hold a protest party concurrent with the start of eBay Live, the company's annual conference for merchants.
Why does it matter? eBay was once the largest ad buying on all of Google.
If I had to take sides, it would be with Google, but only because eBay hasn't a clue about how to run a business and has become too expensive, clunky and watered down to use effectively.
That is what I thought of Google check-out when I used it last holiday season...very poorly done.
Google SHOULD take the fight to the next level and eliminate ebay auctions from their SERPs. They are nothing but spam. eBay would crumble like a stale cookie.
Do you really believe eBay would fail without Google? I hardly think so.
I for one would like to see Google come up with a service that will make PayPal obsolete.
If anyone could do it, Google could. Look at the company. It's taking on Microsoft in new areas once Microsoft's turf, and there's no company too big for Google to fight or buy. I see nothing stopping Google from going after eBay. The folks at Google think big and a competitor for eBay and PayPal (which eBay bought) is a big idea.
"We've seen that the two companies have been on a collision course for a long time," said Derek Brown, an analyst for Cantor Fitzgerald. "This seems to be the latest and most bizarre twist."
EBay's ads showed up on Google 188.3 million times in March, according to comScore Networks, more than double the number run by Target, the No. 2 Google advertiser.
Didn't know Target was no. 2...
p/g
For GOOG a 6% hit on revenue is a pretty good wallop, Wall Street won't ignore that for long.
Mack.
Im sure this will hurt their bottom line. So much for "Do no evil" - quality score muhhaaaaaaa
Next stop, search.
I hardly use Google, but so glad Goog pulled their ads.
Nice one!
Has anyone thought of that? Or is that kind of thinking process only possible coming from a passive/aggressive female mind?
Yup; I actually had that fleeting thought when they first announced they were booting a bunch of ads out of the AdWords program because they no longer fit the business model. I couldn't see how they could kick out eBay, even though anyone with more common sense than a head of lettuce could tell the ads were worthless, and 200m is not to be sneezed at, but considering Google plays on the billion dollar playing field and keeps growing, well, there's such a thing as acceptable short term loss for long term gain.
But of course, that's just crazy talk, innit?
I've always been skeptical over user quality claims when those eBay spam ads were running.
Google SHOULD take the fight to the next level and eliminate ebay auctions from their SERPs. They are nothing but spam. eBay would crumble like a stale cookie.
Doing that certainly would improve the SERPs, but the timing would be poor, since eliminating eBay auction results would leave Google open to charges that large advertisers were being favored (and large ex-advertisers were being screwed) in search results.
It would be better for Google to quietly turn down the lights on eBay results after the current tiff is history.
The big fear that Google has isn't so much eBay, but rather eBay / Microsoft / yahoo teaming up.
I saw an auction stats tracking site that says ebay listings are down by over a half million each month this year compared to last?
No more new and used dog food.
Or used kleenex - used plutonium - used food - used condoms - used anything. I did some screen snapshots of these gems because I expected that they'd go away someday. I sincerely hope today is that day.
Any idea or guess on how much of Google's revenue is from eBay?
Has anyone considered that ebay pulled the ads because they simply cannot afford them anymore?
Google's kind of like the rebellious teen. Daddy Ebay took the car keys away and the G boys are now behaving themselves like nice little corporate kids.
If you have an auction, get payment via pay pal, pay the listing fees you could be paying 10-20% in fees! I know we pulled off from ebay last year because of that reason alone. Simply put, they are charging way to much to sell on their service. We took those savings and advertised in other places and have an overall better return with increased business.
So, if Ebay is saving money, will it lower its selling fees? Umm, I doubt that. Watch, later this year they will add a few more % to their fees.
Trust me - they're back. I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA.
<snip>
[edited by: Brett_Tabke at 1:11 pm (utc) on June 17, 2007]
[edit reason] no links to keyword searches please...especially affiliate searches... [/edit]
iPo
He added that that the impact of eBay’s advertising withdrawal was reduced by the fact that 25 per cent of users visiting the internet auctioneer from Google do so after searching for eBay, rather than by clicking on one of the “sponsored links” that appear next to other search results. The data suggests that Google may be less powerful than people thought, at a time when the search engine is seeking to widen its empire – and drawing fresh criticism almost every day as a result of its perceived growing dominance.[From The Times, June 16, 2007, 'Google power 'less than thought' as eBay starts boycott']
Google less powerful? Google? No, eBay's leadership, more like it!
This article is silly. All it shows is that eBay doesn't know what it's doing. It took them how many years to figure this out?
I never understood why eBay advertised so excitedly on Google, as if nobody had ever heard of eBay. It's as if all the effort was for those folks who had heard of eBay, had used it before, but were shopping early in the morning, and just happened to accidentally forget it existed when they went to buy something online.
But when the company was committed long-term (how many years?) to advertising dead popes, are we really surprised that its advertising execs were so clueless about Google?
p/g
Sorry, but I think you're mistaken. The eBay ads I see on my sites are just eBay (www.ebay.com) - not affiliates.
Sorry, but I think you're mistaken. The eBay ads I see on my sites are just eBay (www.ebay.com) - not affiliates.
Check the destination link. If it contains "rover.ebay.com" then it is an affiliate link.
iPo
I have and it doesn't. URL is www.ebay.com
As far as auction numbers being down, that was due to a huge increase last year in selling fees. Year after year they raise their pricing up. We were a power seller and I personally know of 10-15 more power sellers who stopped selling because of their rate hikes!If you have an auction, get payment via pay pal, pay the listing fees you could be paying 10-20% in fees! I know we pulled off from ebay last year because of that reason alone. Simply put, they are charging way to much to sell on their service. We took those savings and advertised in other places and have an overall better return with increased business.
I hear that - while I was never a big seller on eBay, I went back recently to list my son's dirt bike on eBay motors, only to find the listing fees were about quadruple what it would cost to run ads in local papers. Bye-bye eBay... (for me, anyway) - hello craigslist. (I wonder how many others there are who feel the same way? CL must be wreaking havoc on the eBay business...)
A number of them are making a big deal about eBay's traffic from Google not dropping more after the ads were pulled.
Outside of the world of Adords advertisers & AdSense publishers, there seems to be little understanding of what Google's PPC advertising is really all about.
FarmBoy
