eBay Bans Google Checkout

dumbasses

[quote05d6183d80="Slashdot.net"]eBay has added Google Checkout to the list of payment options banned on eBay. A recent update to the Accepted Payments Policy[=http//pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html]Accepted Payments Policy includes Google Checkout (click on 'Show' next to 'Some Examples' to reveal the list). More comments on this action[=http//ebaystrategies.blogs.com/ebay_strategies/2006/07/ebay_bans_googl.html]More comments on this action can be found at the eBay Strategies Blog.[/quote05d6183d80]

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I dont see how this is a dumb move... This might be able to really put a dent in the potential for google checkout to grow enough to compete with paypal...

[quote9982c18fac="JUNIOR6886"]I dont see how this is a dumb move... This might be able to really put a dent in the potential for google checkout to grow enough to compete with paypal...[/quote9982c18fac]

Well duh, it's not dumb for eBay to ban them but it isn't good for people who like google checkout.

On the one hand, eBay as a company (a public company with a responsibility to its shareholders to generate revenue) has a right to decide what they allow/disallow in the course of using their service.

On the other hand, due to that very same publicly traded status, there could be anti-trust ramifications. Seeing how eBay is the owner of PayPal, the selective shutting out of competitors -- particularly those as large and highly-regarded as Google -- would seem to be grounds for a legal showdown. I'm no anti-trust lawyer, but from what I do know of it, if eBay said "we accept nothing but our own PayPal payments" then they would be okay. They're probably also fine to ban the smaller guys they have in that list, as they are more prone to fraud and less likely to have the resources to prevent fraud. But to say "we accept other payment processors besides PayPal, just not Google" is akin to Microsoft saying "you can run Internet Explorer and Opera on Windows, but not Firefox."

Google won't take this lying down, I'm sure, and unless eBay has a strong argument that Google's service is prone to fraud -- probably unlikely given that Google's technical talent far exceed's eBay's -- I think they'd have a hard time legally defending their decision.

[quote76606f189e="dmorris68"]On the one hand, eBay as a company (a public company with a responsibility to its shareholders to generate revenue) has a right to decide what they allow/disallow in the course of using their service.

On the other hand, due to that very same publicly traded status, there could be anti-trust ramifications. Seeing how eBay is the owner of PayPal, the selective shutting out of competitors -- particularly those as large and highly-regarded as Google -- would seem to be grounds for a legal showdown. I'm no anti-trust lawyer, but from what I do know of it, if eBay said "we accept nothing but our own PayPal payments" then they would be okay. They're probably also fine to ban the smaller guys they have in that list, as they are more prone to fraud and less likely to have the resources to prevent fraud. But to say "we accept other payment processors besides PayPal, just not Google" is akin to Microsoft saying "you can run Internet Explorer and Opera on Windows, but not Firefox."

Google won't take this lying down, I'm sure, and unless eBay has a strong argument that Google's service is prone to fraud -- probably unlikely given that Google's technical talent far exceed's eBay's -- I think they'd have a hard time legally defending their decision.[/quote76606f189e]

Excellent points.

[quote6fa6790837="dmorris68"]On the one hand, eBay as a company (a public company with a responsibility to its shareholders to generate revenue) has a right to decide what they allow/disallow in the course of using their service.

On the other hand, due to that very same publicly traded status, there could be anti-trust ramifications. Seeing how eBay is the owner of PayPal, the selective shutting out of competitors -- particularly those as large and highly-regarded as Google -- would seem to be grounds for a legal showdown. I'm no anti-trust lawyer, but from what I do know of it, if eBay said "we accept nothing but our own PayPal payments" then they would be okay. They're probably also fine to ban the smaller guys they have in that list, as they are more prone to fraud and less likely to have the resources to prevent fraud. But to say "we accept other payment processors besides PayPal, just not Google" is akin to Microsoft saying "you can run Internet Explorer and Opera on Windows, but not Firefox."

Google won't take this lying down, I'm sure, and unless eBay has a strong argument that Google's service is prone to fraud -- probably unlikely given that Google's technical talent far exceed's eBay's -- I think they'd have a hard time legally defending their decision.[/quote6fa6790837]


What he said.

Google should create its own auction site shrug

Didn't they already?

The author of that blog entry thinks he's the shit for pointing out that eBay buys a lot of adwords and therefore must use Google's CC processor. Both Google and eBay would have to be fucking stupid to do that. I'm sure eBay funds their account with a wire or a check.