Google tests *ea market feature

Online classi 4 ed service planned

Internet search giant Google is encroaching on online auctioneer eBay’s territory.

Go ogle has c on 4 rmed that it is testing an online marketplace where people could sell products.

Photos of Google’s planned program, Google Base, began appearing on blogs on Tuesday.

In typical Google fashion, the photos offer just a hint of what Google has in store, and the company would not disclose much more.

“ We are testing new ways for content owners to easily send their content to Google,” the company said in a statement.

Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst at securities 4 rm Hofer and Arnett, said he thinks Google is fashioning an international online classi 4 ed service, which would have more immediate impact on Craigslist.

Craigslist has regional websites for online listings. It is 25% owned by eBay.

EBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the company had no comment.

Where Google Base would affect eBay is on the “ buy it now” section of itswebsite, where goods are sold without bidding.

“ Google could easily charge for online classi 4 eds and get a lot of business,” Pyykkonen says. “ They have the infrastructure to do it.”

He sees Google’s move as a positive for the Silicon Valley company, because it would allow Google to bring in revenue from something other than search marketing.

“ They need more diversi 4 cation than just paid search,” he says.

EBay is the Internet’s No. 1 ecommerce site, with 60.7 million visitors last month, according to market tracker Nielsen/ NetRatings. Amazon was No. 2, with 39.3 million. Google, the Internet’s mostused search engine, attracted 87.5 million users in October, according to researcher ComScore Media Metrix.

The company is a Wall Street darling. Its stock was trading late Wednesday at $ 354. It went public at $85 a share in August 2004.

“ Potentially, what Google wants to do is more far- reaching than eBay,” says Danny Sullivan, editor of the SearchEngineWatch newsletter. “ EBay is buy and sell, but Google could put up a database of anything — from jobs to apartments and cars and things for sale, and compete with eBay, Monster, Craigslist and many others.”

Yet even Google’s popularity does not guarantee itwill be able to carve out a huge chunk of eBay’s business, Sullivan says.

Google’s shopping-comparison site, Froogle, has gained little traction, and its new Google Talk instant messaging hasn’t put much of a dent in the competition, he says. “ When Google gets into something

. . . they potentially have a huge audience, but that doesn’t mean everything will take off.”