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Regardless of whether Google taps the public markets, industry observers expect it to use its powerful search technology to make a concerted push into e-commerce.
and
Whitman said she did not see Google as a threat. When asked by a fund manager if she thought the popular search engine would make a push into online auctions, she said: "I don't think that's what they're going to do. I think they will focus on search."
What strikes me is the pure speculation involved. eBay is the far and away auction leader, but (gasp!) what if Google decides to do auctions? That kind of reverence and speculation is reserved for only a select few companies -- Microsoft springs to mind. For a long while every up and coming (or stable and solid) company was getting asked how they'd survive if they had to deal with Microsoft entering their space. Now they're asking what if Google enters your space.
What I find most interesting in that article is this, dropped into the last paragraph:
The company plans to announce early next year a roll-out plan for its PayPal online payment service across continental Europe, she added.
That will be news when it happens and open up a lot of additional market opportunity for U.S. online vendors. At that point it'll be a good day for people who kept up with European markets and time for others to play catch-up or lose out.
eBay is good for Google
Self serving statement. Ebay has been so eager to encourage affiliate spam with redirects, of course they would say that. Ebay is counting on the AdWords revenue to give them leverage but I doubt that Google will stand for their spam.
