Google beat out the competition to be the premier MySpace search sponsor. Now it will be sell advertising on the 10th most popular web site on the internet, eBay. The ads will be shown to visitors of the American eBay web site and foreign eBay versions as well. This deal comes under controversy as both companies are directly competitive in areas such as phone service, payment (Paypal), and product listings (Froogle vs. Ebay). As the leader in text based advertising on the internet, this deal will seal Google’s dominance over competition such as Yahoo!, Kanoodle, and others. The deal strikes like a hammer in my mind though.

The alliance will bring about an important competitve standpoint which could radically affect eBay’s growth. Users will now be able to use search engines like Google to find their odd-ball products rather than going directly to eBay. While using Google, users could click on Google’s text ads instead of clicking on eBay listings. As part of the deal, Google and eBay will charge a fee which both of the companies will be splitting. Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive commented that “this is all about getting the customer to buy quicker.” Maybe Mr. Schmidt should consider the possible downfall of this move. Only time will tell.