Buy on Google is now open and commission-free • Hacker News Board

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#41

Post by bryanrasmussen » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #17

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #2

Free until they dominate the entire market

Or wipe out the low commission fee competition in the payment processor space. If the US had better anti-competitive enforcement I feel like this is akin to the Internet Explorer/Netscape/Microsoft case, in them using one monopoly (search) to take over another market (same hook too: "free"). Plus you know they're going to reward sites for using this in their search rankings (or just outright place them at the top).

I think reward, but it is pretty cunning, the rewarded sites get better placement so better profit so it will be easy for others to see how google outperforms to other solutions.

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#42

Post by londons_explore » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:40 PM UTC

skybrian wrote: post #21

I used to like buying with Google Checkout back in the day. And does anyone remember Froogle? They used to have free product listings, and then they started charging. One of the reasons I heard for that change was that they were getting a lot of spam. I guess by partnering with Shopify they can let someone else worry about that, but likely they'll have a counterfeit problem if this gets any traction.

Shopify isn't free right?

So effectively while Google is claiming they are "free", the reality is the merchant still has to pay...

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#43

Post by pirocks » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:41 PM UTC

mav3rick wrote: post #33

asdfk-12 wrote: post #10

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 204 times, shame on me. https://killedbygoogle.com/

"companies don't try new things" - HN "Google kills products" - HN 99% of the people here would gladly work at Google. But what's the next best thing .. downplay the company you couldn't get into :) Carry on !

I wouldn't gladly work for Google. I hope I'm not in the 1%.

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#44

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:42 PM UTC

heavyset_go wrote: post #34

mortehu wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slashdot.org was plagued by people posting "first post" to every story, so they implemented an automatic "first post" comment to each article, that was removed as soon as other comments appeared. Maybe this comment ("Google will shut this down like so many other products") should be similarly posted automatically to Hacker News on every Google story?

It's ironic how my least favorite genre of posts are posts that complain about other posts.

[deleted]

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#45

Post by asdfk-12 » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:44 PM UTC

mortehu wrote: post #27

asdfk-12 wrote: post #10

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 204 times, shame on me. https://killedbygoogle.com/

Slashdot.org was plagued by people posting "first post" to every story, so they implemented an automatic "first post" comment to each article, that was removed as soon as other comments appeared. Maybe this comment ("Google will shut this down like so many other products") should be similarly posted automatically to Hacker News on every Google story?

Perhaps this listing service would get more goodwill from users and business if they were to pay sellers a commission when a listed item sells. Google's extractive (no, it's actually not 'free') business model has become quite tiresome, and they seem to have wasted their first-mover advantage over the past decade.

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#46

Post by 8organicbits » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:45 PM UTC

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #36

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really think Google -- who has floundered in this space for years -- is going to dominate a market that is already dominated by a company (Amazon) with a 50% larger market cap? Walmart and Target have been trying to chip away at Amazon's lead, and they're only getting buried deeper in the dust. Google doesn't exactly have a reputation for entering new markets and dominating them, either...

People don't search things on amazon, they search things on google, which link to amazon. So yes, they have a huge potential. They always have sucked doing things IRL, so it's not a certain win. But owning the road to the competition shop is powerful. Not to mention they can force the hand of small shops: use our API or go down in ranking.

Is that still true? For most products Amazon search seems much improved to me, it used to be quite poor. Plus on mobile people may be biased to search via the app.

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#47

Post by topspin » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:45 PM UTC

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #28

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #2

Free until they dominate the entire market

You really think Google -- who has floundered in this space for years -- is going to dominate a market that is already dominated by a company (Amazon) with a 50% larger market cap? Walmart and Target have been trying to chip away at Amazon's lead, and they're only getting buried deeper in the dust. Google doesn't exactly have a reputation for entering new markets and dominating them, either...

> already dominated by a company (Amazon) with a 50% larger market cap?

I wouldn't if Amazon was doing a good job. Between the astroturf reviews, fake products and fictional shipping times Amazon leaves a lot to be desired.

But I do agree Google won't be the solution. Google is too hidebound and suspect now to solve this one.

I think the future is in independent online retailers. The good ones will thrive and the rest will vanish, and they aren't going to suffer the FAANGs any more than necessary.

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#48

Post by frequentnapper » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:45 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #35

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really think Google -- who has floundered in this space for years -- is going to dominate a market that is already dominated by a company (Amazon) with a 50% larger market cap? Walmart and Target have been trying to chip away at Amazon's lead, and they're only getting buried deeper in the dust. Google doesn't exactly have a reputation for entering new markets and dominating them, either...

>Google doesn't exactly have a reputation for entering new markets and dominating them, either... Mobile OS's (Android) Online Video (Youtube) Online Maps (Google Maps) Webmail (Gmail) None recently, granted.

Weren't they all acquisitions?

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#49

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

Anyone remember when ATMs were free?

Re: Buy on Google is now open and commission-free

#50

Post by patmorgan23 » Thu, Jul 23, 2020, 9:46 PM UTC

londons_explore wrote: post #35

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really think Google -- who has floundered in this space for years -- is going to dominate a market that is already dominated by a company (Amazon) with a 50% larger market cap? Walmart and Target have been trying to chip away at Amazon's lead, and they're only getting buried deeper in the dust. Google doesn't exactly have a reputation for entering new markets and dominating them, either...

>Google doesn't exactly have a reputation for entering new markets and dominating them, either... Mobile OS's (Android) Online Video (Youtube) Online Maps (Google Maps) Webmail (Gmail) None recently, granted.

Don't for get calendar and docs