米Google、電子決済サービスを年内に提供

米Wall Street Journal（電子版）によると、米Googleが年内に電子決済サービスを提供する。詳細は明らかではないが、関係者は米eBayが提供するPayPalと同様のものになると話す。Googleは収益源のほとんどをオンライン広告に頼っているが、電子決済を提供すれば取引毎の手数料が入るため新たな収益源になる。eBayにとってはGoogleの参入は脅威だ。

Depending on the exact details, Google's move could potentially threaten eBay's successful PayPal service, which generated $233.1 million, or 23% of eBay's revenue in the first quarter. PayPal has been widely adopted by buyers and sellers on eBay's auction marketplace as a way to pay for purchases. Recently, eBay has been trying to expand PayPal's presence as a payment system for other Web sites. In the first quarter, 71% of PayPal's revenue came from eBay auctions, the company says. ["Google Set to Offer Payment Service to Compete With eBay's PayPal", THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, June 18, 2005 8:54 p.m.]