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eBay pulls out of Google Ads

eBay pulls out of Google Ads

eBay has pulled out of Google's AdWords scheme for the time being...

eBay has pulled out of Google's AdWords scheme because the search giant held an event on the same evening as eBay's annual merchant's conference.

Ian Maude, an analyst from Enders Analysis, claims that Google's plan to host a party on the same night was nothing more than a marketing stunt, but unfortunately it has come back to bite it in the proverbial backside.

You see, Google wanted to attract attention away from PayPal which is competitor to its own online payment scheme, Google Checkout. PayPal is owned by the online auction portal and eBay obviously saw straight through the search giant's plan.

A spokesperson for eBay said that the company was disappointed with Google's plans to host a rival gig; "We don't view that kind of activity as an appropriate activity for one partner to do to another."

The auction site spends around $25m USD a year on Google AdWords, which potentially makes it Google's largest single AdWords client. But Google Checkout is currently banned from the auction site, so it could be part of a wider effort to get Checkout onto eBay's whitelist.

Strangely though, Google decided to cancel its rival function the day before it was scheduled to happen, stating that "after speaking with officials at eBay, we at Google agreed it was better for us not to feature this event during the eBay Live conference."

Maude believes that eBay will advertise with Google again in the future, once negotiations between the two companies have been completed. This makes sense, especially given the fact that Google's share of the Internet search market is around 50 percent in the US and 80 percent in Europe.

Got a thought on Google's ill-fated marketing stunt? Share it with us in the forums.

9 Comments

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yodasarmpit 15th June 2007, 16:01 Quote
Quite clever of Google tbh, they create a stir then rearranged the event to appease Ebay, Ebay in turn say they will use Google to advertise again (so little financial impact to Google)
Google get some free advertising through the media for their new online payment gateway.
Perforated 15th June 2007, 17:15 Quote
I have no real feeling on "right" or "wrong" elements... but not having eBay on adwords is noticeable. Part of me was getting tired of eBay results popping up there for EVERYTHING when I wanted to actually purchase something, and part of me misses the more ridiculous template results ("buy WINDMILLS now on eBay!" etc... there were funnier ones, but I forget them.) :)
Cobalt 15th June 2007, 17:48 Quote
Funniest one I had was when I typed in my name on google and ebay offered to sell me myself :p
saeghwin 15th June 2007, 21:12 Quote
I bet eBay was just mad that Google didn't invite them to their party. :p
Bladestorm 15th June 2007, 22:03 Quote
I had a little chuckle at ebay trying to take the moral high ground as "partners" after having google checkout banned all this time.
completemadness 15th June 2007, 22:51 Quote
why is Google checkout banned, surely they can be done for some anti-competitive rules or something ?
sinizterguy 16th June 2007, 00:08 Quote
Quote:
Originally Posted by completemadness
why is Google checkout banned, surely they can be done for some anti-competitive rules or something ?

Im sure the legal buffoons have done their job and covered ebays backside.
adam197 16th June 2007, 13:14 Quote
I think eBay prevented the use of Google Checkout as according to them (and rather conveniently) it was deemed unsafe to use...
Perforated 17th June 2007, 09:47 Quote
Is it back already? Just got "buy father's day on eBay!!"... awesome. Back on form, apparently.
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