Google Base service provider throws in the towel

Remember BuyBundle, the service for listing your Amazon and eBay items on Google Base? It looks like they've called it quits, and have sent this message out to members (thanks to BeachSideBooks for sharing):

Dear BuyBundle Seller,

We would like to update you on the status of BuyBundle's operations.

BuyBundle was an attempt to bring the reach of Google Base to independent sellers. Unfortunately, Google Base has been slow in catching on. We waited patiently for over a year but given the current status of Google Base, we are not sure how long it will be before Google Base becomes a viable channel.

We are officially suspending operations from January 1, 2008. Till then, the site will be open for sellers. You can check your account and take care of existing orders. We are closing the site for new buyers so there are no more pending orders.

Thanks for being a part of BuyBundle community.

I haven't heard much about Google Base recently and its effectiveness as a bookselling platform. Personally I had taken a wait-and-see approach to see if brought in a decent amount of sales for other people. I didn't want to have to monitor it if it was only bringing in negligible business.

This isn't a knock against BuyBundle, whose team seemed to have a lot of great ideas. They couldn't help it that Google has left this Base thing on the back burner indefinitely. I don't think Base will ever take off until it's organized into something like a marketplace where people can compare prices, merchants, etc., easily. Opposition from Amazon surely didn't help.

I can only guess that Google has bigger fish to fry right now. Or maybe they were afraid of inviting government regulation. They have so much control of the Internet already. They practically control Internet searching and advertising completely. If they started taking over Internet shopping people would really be up in arms.