Question
Mike posted this over at ez and thought I would bring it over here.
Looks like froogle is on hold for awhile. http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_frown.gif
http://www.nydailynews.com/business/...p-100226c.html
"Google's Brin sizes up rivals
No IPO now, but 'good chance eventually,' founder says
By Bambi Francisco, CBS.MarketWatch.com
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) - Sergey Brin, search engine Google's co-founder, shared no fresh insights about the company's IPO ambitions, but it's clear he sees tough times ahead for Yahoo and potential competition from EBay.
"There will be integration challenges for all of these companies," said Brin, who spoke at the Search Engine Strategies conference on Wednesday, where he also told the audience that the company had no immediate plans to go public.
While not mentioning Yahoo (SYMB:YHOO) specifically, Brin highlighted Inkotmi, Alta Vista, Fast and Overture Services as the companies that he thinks would face difficult times as they attempt to combine.
Yahoo bought Inktomi and is in the processing of buying Overture (SYMB:OVER), which purchased Alta Vista and Fast earlier this year. "Companies have trigger fingers," Brin said. "Companies have to think about integration challenges."
In a brief interview with CBS MarketWatch, Brin - who turns 30 on Thursday - said that he views Yahoo and Microsoft (SYMB:MSFT) as the Mountain View, Calif.-based company's immediate rivals. They're making "clear competitive efforts," he said.
Asked whether he viewed EBay (SYMB:EBAY) as a competitor, Brin said that there are "cases where people might use both as substitutes." But Brin wouldn't say outright that EBay should be viewed as a competitor.
Choosing EBay over Google or visa versa is like choosing between bottled water and tap water, he suggested. He didn't say which company was tap water, however, Asked whether Froogle - Google's shopping site, it's still undergoing testing - would compete with EBay, Brin said that Froogle could incorporate EBay. The company also has no plans to launch Froogle before this holiday season.
Take your corners But where Brin saw mostly cooperation, observers saw competition.
"Clearly, they do [compete]," said Greg Sterling, analyst at the Kelsey Group. "EBay is the directory bringing buyers and sellers together and Google is explicitly likening themselves to the yellow pages directory."
Indeed, there is overlap between the advertisers on Google's network and Froogle, said a person familiar with Google's advertising network.
A recent study comparing where merchants can find the best leads and customers also showed that Google sent 75 percent of the traffic that eventually turned into a purchase. Bizresearch, which conducted the study, compared traffic from shopping engine DealTime, Yahoo, and AOL Time Warner (SYMB:AOL) for one merchant during a 40-day period.
In hindsight, EBay should have been included in the comparison, said Laura Thieme, president and founder of Bizresearch. That's because EBay is connecting buyers with merchants, much like the search engines.
The Bizresearch study showed that Google is one of the best ways to make such a connection. Importantly, said Thieme, the listings that delivered the highest conversions were organic listings, or the ones that Google's algorithm crawls and automatically includes in its listings for no fee.
Rock star Brin and the elusive IPO Of course, an interview with Brin in front of a standing-room audience would be lacking without the obligatory question about Google's IPO plans.
As expected, Brin essentially said the company had no immediate plans, but he did suggest that an IPO, as opposed to being sold to a larger company, is in Google's future. There is a "good chance, eventually, we will [go public]," he said.
Brin has all the traits of a true technologist, one who's more concerned about innovation than money. In fact, he appeared genuinely forthright as he shared what he could about the IPO considerations without giving away trade secrets.
An IPO "is something we debate periodically," along with the trade-offs of being publicly or privately held, he said. For instance, an IPO would bring "some degree of currency to do acquisitions."
But on the downside, he suggested that going public would be a management distraction and that unless a company established a well-grounded culture, an event could alter that culture adversely.
Indeed, even though Brin was mobbed like a rock star with random requests for pictures and autographs following his fireside chat, he took the attention in stride. He could take the attention or leave it, much like the IPO, for now.
"We're profitable. We don't need the money," he said.
The bottom line for Google, as he put it, boils down to this: "The summary is that you can go either way."
"
Janet * Lanetzliving.com
My Website, up and running and I already sold stuff!! woo hoo!....
Me Page
Answer
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Choosing EBay over Google or visa versa is like choosing between bottled water and tap water, he suggested. He didn't say which company was tap water, however, Asked whether Froogle - Google's shopping site, it's still undergoing testing - would compete with EBay, Brin said that Froogle could incorporate EBay. The company also has no plans to launch Froogle before this holiday season.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
http://community.here.com/infopop/em...icon_frown.gif I was really hoping for an October launch. Oh well, I can still use Keywords but I guess I hang on to the eBay store as well.
http://homepage.mac.com/stratfords/v.gif
I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard to pronounce