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EBay CEO wary of Google

May 08, 2006 |

Signs that Google may try to become a force in eBay's e-commerce and online payment businesses, coupled with investor concern over slow growth in markets like China, has driven down eBay's stock almost 30 percent this year.

“Only the paranoid survive,’’ eBay Chief Executive Meg Whitman told analysts attending a presentation at the online auctioneer’s San Jose headquarters Thursday.

Signs that Google may try to become a force in eBay’s e-commerce and online payment businesses, coupled with investor concern over slow growth and stiff competition in markets like China and South Korea, has driven down eBay’s stock almost 30 percent this year.

Whitman acknowledged the threat from Google’s growing online database of products, known as Google Base, and from the Mountain View company’s test of a payment service it calls the Google account. However, Whitman said eBay was competing from a position of strength.

She predicted that the company would reap powerful synergies from its three major branches: combining online shopping (its core) with online payments (PayPal) and online communication (the Internet phone-calling program Skype).

Get the full story at The Mercury News

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