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Google Checkout Making (Really Small) Strides Against PayPal
The Blog Herald
The Blog Herald

Google Checkout Making (Really Small) Strides Against PayPal

by
November 30, 2006

So Hitwise presented some data a few days ago on how Google Checkout was faring against PayPal given that they are both trying lure online shoppers this holiday season.  It is claiming that Google’s marketshare rose 158%, while PayPal’s lead dropped in half.  This interpretation is actually misleading, because Google’s Checkout numbers really went from negligible (almost zero) to a little more than negligible (a little more than zero).  For example, when your market share goes from 0.001% to 0.002%, your numbers just went up by 100%, and, of course your competitor’s lead was just cut in half.  The real information is in the absolute numbers, which is plainly visible in the graph, and it clearly shows that the lead from PayPal’s point of view, is still massive.

Tony Hung is the editor of the BlogHerald. He is also a physician finishing his last year of residency in General Internal Medicine, and blogs at Deep Jive Interests , where he rants, occasionally, on new media topics.

View Comments (3)

  • When you describe the drop from a relative point of view, it sounds massive — not so when you look at the absolute numbers.

    If google’s reach went from 1->2%, then you effectively halved PayPal’s gain on Google, no matter what PayPal’s numbers were, if they stayed the same.

    i.e. Paypal, for example, 80% –> 80x –> 40x.

    But from an absolute numbers point of view, its still 2% vs. 80%, so google really hadn’t made much of a dent at all.

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