Transactions played more than a bit part in this week's Wall Street screening.
Google checks in with Checkout
It's about time, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). The country's leading search engine finally rolled out its online financial payment service. Google Checkout -- not the Gbuy name that had been bandied about, or the Google Purchases subdomain that was uncovered last year -- is the real deal now, as Google enters the promising realm of online financial exchanges.
All along, Google has insisted that it's not building a PayPal killer. However, with PayPal parent eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) now in cahoots with Google rival Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), will Google really show eBay any mercy? It should. eBay is a very important advertiser through Google AdWords, so Google is coming in slowly, aiming to make a big splash with merchants while tiptoeing around PayPal's consumer-to-consumer stronghold.
Find it with Google. Buy it with Google Checkout.
That's the slogan of Google's new service. It's landed some pretty big names for its launch, but let's not kid one another here. Once consumers start funding accounts to facilitate transactions with e-tailers, it's really just a matter of time before Checkout becomes a PayPal clone. That doesn't mean it will topple eBay's well-entrenched player. Remember that even eBay couldn't beat PayPal on its own auction site with Billpoint; it went ahead and bought out PayPal instead.
The online payment arena will definitely get interesting. Online retailers may see PayPal relax its fees to keep them from being wooed by Google. Stay close on this one, because it's going to heat up in a hurry.
Snap goes the IPO tether
Days after reports surfaced that Shutterfly aimed to go public or doll itself up as buyout bait, the digital photofinishing specialist did the former. I have no idea how the market will approach this one. Shutterfly is an established name and a pioneer in the digital-snapshots scene. It's also working on an old-school model that tries to cash in on physical distribution of prints and photograph-based merchandise, including calendars and greeting cards.
Companies like Facebook, MySpace, and CNET's (NASDAQ:CNET) Webshots are taking digital uploads in a new direction, cashing in on the advertising revenue that is available through free photo-sharing rather than actual tangible goods. This doesn't poke a hole in Shutterfly's parachute, but it may temper the expectations of investors who prefer the new way to play digital snaps over the original path to profitability.
Until next week, I remain,
eBay is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation. CNET is a Rule Breakers newsletter service selection.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look back. He does not own shares in any of the companies in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. Rick is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.
