Monday, September 17, 2012

Google aims to usurp Amazon's top e-commerce spot

The e-commerce competition is tight between Google and Amazon.

Google has recently changed its Google Shopping policy by requesting e-commerce companies to pay in order to be included in the users' search of shopping lists, The New York Times reported.

Google claims its former service could mislead consumers with out-of-date and inaccurate product listings. Google says the change will improve shopping experience for users when retailers are paying.


“Incentives are aligned to make sure the data we’re receiving is of a higher quality,” said Sameer Samat, vice president for product management for Google Shopping. “With better data, we can build a better experience for users.”

At the same time, Amazon has already removed its listings from Google Shopping. If you search for a Kindle in Google Shopping, it would only show Kindles from Best Buy, eBay, etc without from Amazon.However, Amazon has not excluded the possibility of paying Google for inclusion of its products in the listings, an anonymous insider says.

“Google and Amazon both have the same end goal, to be the destination that people go to to do their product searches, and Amazon’s winning that battle,” said Michael Griffin, founder and chief technology officer of Adlucent, which conducts search marketing for online retailers and formerly managed Amazon’s paid search. 

Paid listings are not exclusive to Google: most other comparison-shopping sites also have paid listings, including Yahoo Shopping, Nextag and PriceGrabber. 


According to The New York Times, most online retailers still regard Google as the most important source for online shoppers. However, some mentioned the difficulty of paying to list their products. 

“If you’re a retailer and you don’t have the budgets of an Amazon, eBay, Best Buy or Wal-Mart, it’s going to be really challenging,” said Gerry Bavaro, senior vice-president for performance media at Digitas, whose clients include Procter & Gamble. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, online retail sales in China are estimated to be over $360 billion by 2015 as the world's largest market around that time. China and US together account for more than 350 million online shoppers.

Generally, there are two ways for shoppers to shop online: search items via Google; go to Amazon for direct shopping results. According to Daily Tech, Amazon seems to be winning in its battle against Google in Internet shopping. Amazon is an "established e-tailer" with a wide-range store and attractive prices. 

Image: Tech 2

1 comment:

  1. Has removed its listings from Google Shopping. Why? Playing independent then. Oh well, that's how they want it so be it. At least, they're starting to stand alone.

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