Selling on Google Base Has Begun -- Reputation System Coming Soon
- By: kidmercury [privmsg - website] On 27th Feb 2006 In
Just days after their ecommerce announcement regarding Google Base, Google has already begun showing items for sale on select Google Accounts. Tech Crunch has the full scoop, (including screenshots) and notes that Google is already in talks with larger sellers to act as a distributor of their goods:
Our understanding is that Google is currently testing this service further internally and are in talks to potential sellers on using Google Base and their new payment system to sell items.
Tech Crunch also reports that Google is working on a reputation system for Base:
What Google does lack at the moment, and something they are working on, is a reputation system so that you can authenticate who the seller is and how trustworthy they are. Building a good reputation system is a very big problem, one that eBay has yet to completely solve so it will be interesting to see what Google will do about this.
Considering how much information Google has on, well, everything, it seems like they could create a powerful reputation system. I suppose it could even be argued that Google's trust-based search algorithm is essentially a reputation system, and so this kind of thing could be right up their alley.
Does all of this spell an end for eBay? And perhaps ecommerce intermediaries like Amazon?
Does all of this spell an
No...but it does make Google look like they are trying to wall off their own section of the internet.
Be afraid
Be very afraid. This is pretty much the only thing I've seen Google initiate other than adwords/adsense that has the potential of letting them leverage their presence into another serious market. All the other stuff is fluff; but with this I can easily see them becoming the next ebay or having a situation where buyers look to Google to shop instead of somewhere else. If I was selling online this would have me scared.
IMO where google will have
IMO where google will have trouble for quite some time is in completing transactions that have a lot of "friction" -- transactions that are complex and not one-click checkout, that require negotiation, that have a strong service component, and an enforcement component as well. an seo transaction is a prime example. these types of transactions require an intermediary with a human touch which google is not equipped to do at all.
although i am shocked at how quickly google moves. love 'em or hate 'em, their speed is impressive.
No Fear
Yahoo's had auctions and stores for years, so has Amazon, nobody seemed to care, both were supposed to hurt eBay and send ecommerce in a tailspin and it never happened.
If Google comes along and knocks them all on their ass then you know Google just has more "IT factor" than the rest of them and anything is possible when you brand it Google but I'm suspecting they'll be running head first into every asshole that's been booted off eBay for scamming customers.
Just like YPN has every little AdSense click frauder heading their way...
Customer service
it seems like something like this will require massive amounts of real, live customer service. As bad as ebay may be at that, I am certain they are more dedicated to it than Google will be. It'll be just like the Google Pages/Analytics/Web-accelerator launches...except this time, people will have their money on the line. and a canned customer service response (like Adsense does) just won't cut it.
You Know
sooner or later a lot of people including myself are just going to want to do internet searchs from "just" a search engine...you know the kind of search engine Google was about 3 years ago. I think it would be great to have a webpage listing all the wonderful new services Google is providing with how long they have been in "beta" and projected date when they will be out of "beta". I project this new service will be in "beta" for at least 18+ months. Does Google have any thing other than its search engine thats still NOT in "beta? I think Gmail has to be coming up on 18+ months already. I guess my point is that if they are not very careful... this whole "we gota be everything to everyone" is going to back fire in a huge way. This has always been whats wrong with MSN and I think it will be whats wrong with Google down the road.
Dan
Tick Tock Tick Tock...
So who's taking wagers on when the GoogleOS is going to be released? 07, 08, 09?