Q&A: Why is Amazon outlawing Google Base Store Connector?
QUESTION: I sell on Amazon and upload my listings to Google using Google Base Store Connector. But I just received this e-mail from Google:Dear Google Base Store Connector user,WHY would Amazon drop something that drives traffic TO Amazon?? This ranks right up there with the elimination of our neat, orderly zShops and giving us the resulting mess that is currently an Amazon store -- a mess that is impossible to categorize or sort usefully, which just shows a morass of listings that are useless to a buyer. Why is Amazon trying to kill potential sales??
Our goal with Google Base Store Connector is to make it as easy as possible for merchants to make their inventory searchable on Google. Unfortunately, Amazon is requiring us to remove support for Amazon Stores from Google Base Store Connector. As a result, in the next update to Google Base Store Connector, this feature will be removed. This update will be required for all users.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We are working to resolve this issue and will let you know of any changes or updates that occur.
Thank you.
The Google Base Team
ANSWER: Wow! Thanks for letting me know about this. I'm registered with Google and didn't get the e-mail.
I agree with you, Google Base is an opportunity for Amazon to make its wares more visible to more people on the Internet and make more sales. But apparently Amazon sees risks here. I would guess Amazon is worried about two things, and these are purely guesses on my part:
- Google Base is potentially a way for Amazon sellers to make sales without paying any fees to Amazon. Of course sellers are free to list their inventory wherever they want, but I guess Amazon doesn't want to make it too easy for people to export their listings. For example, if sellers are using something like Buybundle.com to manage their Amazon listings on Google Base, it's possible for buyers to use PayPal instead of Amazon Payments, and Amazon would receive no commission.
- Amazon may see the potential for security weaknesses or outright fraud -- that unsuspecting customers *think* they're buying from Amazon when actually they're not. I'm not saying necessarily that anybody is doing anything untoward, but this could be an argument that Amazon is using.
UPDATE: After writing an e-mail to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the original poster received this reply:
From: resolution-sellers@amazon.com
[mailto:resolution-sellers@amazon.com]
Sent: Friday, April 13, 2007 8:04 PM
To: xxxxx@yahoo.com
Subject: Your Amazon.com Inquiry
Greetings,
My name is Nathan, and I am an Escalation Specialist with the
Amazon.com Seller Support team. Your message to Jeff Bezos was forwarded to me
for my review and reply. I will include Jeff's office with this correspondence.
Google has removed support for Amazon Marketplace from the Google Base
Store Connector application because there were problems with Google’s
original implementation of Amazon Marketplace support. We are working to find
the right solution to this issue.
We appreciate your patience.
Best regards,
Nathan S.
Amazon.com Seller Support
Labels: Amazon Marketplace, Google Base
posted by Steve Weber at 4/13/2007
8 Comments:
Actually the stuff exported thru Google points back to Amazon, so the risk is almost zero to Amazon about driving off-site sales. It just makes NO Sense (then again, neither did killing Z-shops and having no catagorization
in the new and "improved" stores).
Buybundle is zero threat, since they don't seem to have integrated very well with Google Base. And the Google base store connector bypassed the need for anything like a BuyBundle and keep it all on Amazon. It's a total win for Amazon and they still shoot it. Astonishing.
Some days I wonder if Amazon wants anyone to actually SELL anything.
Sigh.
We can still upload our Amazon listings to Google Base by using a bulk upload. I have spent quite some time doing this when Google Base Store Connector was broken. I did some bulk uploads, got them to work, and will share the info if someone wants to help refine it. Just post here if anyone is interested.
Please! Share the info on your bulk upload techniques. The rest of us would be very appreciative.
Google makes Amazon products searchable through Google
Amazon wants its products searchable and viewable in any Search Engine as AMAZON PRODUCTS ON AMAZON.COM ONLY.
Google is "shilling" Amazon, in other words making Amazon 2nd fiddle
It is a turf war plain and simple
Amazon is only rightly protecting its hard won and long held territory.
This give you more than the article -look inside, underneath and between the lines
Making things searchable only inside Amazon itself is stupid. Amazon has all kinds of programs (Think Amazon Associates) to drive traffic from other sites to Amazon. Amazon itself is indexed by Google. So why does Amazon object to Google Store Connector? There is something here we aren't being told (which is obvious by the corporate non-answer given by ol' Nathan S. to the inquiry as to why this happened--have you ever read such meaningless drivel?)
BTW I'd love to see the bulk upload workaround info, because I have yet to make bulk upload work.
Why is Amazon so intent on making it HARDER to find Marketplace Seller wares? I used to point with my URL to my Z-Shop, driving sales to Amazon. Now I can't, because people cannot browse the listings by catagory. It's like going into a library with no shelving, no dewey decimal and all the books piled helter-skelter. I HATE those kinds of stores, and so do most people. They want to at least be able to browse by the subject they are interested in.
Amazon just seems intent on shooting 3P sellers lately.
Update - I posted earlier about having used the bulk upload feature and FINALLY getting it to work after several days. It took some discussions back and forth with the google staff and a good bit of trial and error. There is one item that needs tweaking and I know someone who is more technical than I am could do this small piece and make what I have done more expedient. Is there a forum that goes with this site to allow us to work on this, or any suggestions about how to collaborate?
I did an upload last night and had no problems.
Anonymous,
If you're trying to contact other people who are posting on this blog, I'd suggest you post another comment with your e-mail address and ask people to contact you if they're interested. Or you can write to me at steve_weber at yahoo.com and I'll post a new item on the blog.
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