Hot on the heels of one heck of a quarterly earnings report, Google
There's no shortage of speculation on the Internet that Google is taking on an obvious foe, Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick eBay
Apparently, Google Base doesn't search third-party classified listings, as one might expect a service from Google would do. Instead, it allows people to enter their collectibles and various wares for sale directly into a searchable Google database. Much is being made about the idea that this is the first time that Google is, in a sense, creating its own content, as opposed to searching that of others.
When we think about the eBay behemoth vs. Google behemoth idea, we can hearken back to a recent fairly well-confirmed rumor that Google is launching an online payment service much like eBay's PayPal. Maybe the writing has been on the wall for quite some time.
I've always been a fan of Google (short of being tempted to buy the shares), but over the last couple months, I have to admit that I started wondering if all the various and sundry areas Google is getting into -- word of free Wi-Fi and spacey headquarters plans, for example -- was displaying a lack of focus that might work against the company in the long run.
However, Google's recent earnings report was enough to make some of us skeptics doubt ourselves. Longtime Fool Rick Munarriz theorized earlier this week about Google shares at $450 -- which does seem far-fetched, despite their recent lofty highs. Although taking on eBay and Craigslist is aiming pretty darn high -- and many arguments exist for why those companies may be insulated from a Google incursion -- these are the days when some of us may feel a bit sheepish about questioning Google's abilities too much.
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Alyce Lomax does not own shares of any of the companies mentioned.