If you're in the classifieds business, you of course should be watching what Google is doing with its
Base
service, which allows anyone to post information on the Web for free
and have it be searchable via Google. One of the (many) uses of the
service is to place free classified ads.
Now, Google has enabled e-commerce by letting people buy items that are
on sale and posted on Base by using their Google Accounts. Google
Accounts already can be used to sign in and pay for some Google
services, like
Google Video and
Google Earth.
According to the Google Base Blog,
this will allow buyers a "convenient and secure way" to purchase items
listed on Base by credit card. For sellers, this integrates transaction
processing with Google Base item management.
The service is now limited to a small number of sellers and will expand over the coming months.
Keep an eye on this, folks. It's yet another technological leap that
makes printed classifieds seem like something from the horse-and-buggy
era.
