Google fired the first shot by attempting to crash eBay's party.
By Michael Stillman
It was a spat that caught most internet observers off guard, a battle between "do no evil" search giant Google and massive online commerce site eBay. Surprisingly, it was the gentle giant, Google, which instigated this unexpected confrontation. However, it was eBay which responded quickly, like a trapped rattlesnake, striking back at the giant with no hint of fear. The result was Google backed down, attempting to slide off the incident as a joke. It was not, and eBay was not about to give Google a pass.
The incident arose last month in Boston, where 9,000 eBayers, primarily sellers, gathered for "eBay Live," an event the auction site held for its customers. Google attempted to crash eBay's party with its own smaller, "Let Freedom Ring" event. That was meant to be a humorous way of promoting its rival payment service to eBay sellers. No one would dispute Google's right to offer a competing service, but throwing a party designed specifically to feed off of the traffic eBay brought to Boston is pushing the boundaries of proper behavior. eBay was not amused.
eBay may be primarily an auction site, and Google a search engine, but each has a division competing in the lucrative payment-processing field. For eBay, it is market leader PayPal. PayPal, once an independent company built primarily to service payments on eBay, was bought out by that site a few years ago. Today, it brings in tons of money for eBay, reportedly some $1.4 billion in revenue last year. PayPal, of course, no longer serves just eBay, but provides payment processing for many sites, maybe even your own if you sell online. A natural outgrowth of eBay's primary business, it is now a hugely successful business of its own.
eBay is not the only firm which sees payment processing as a logical outgrowth of its core business. Google sends countless customers to many online selling sites. If the customer is sent via an advertisement, they make a few bucks, but if the customer arrives from an internet match, Google gets nothing. At some point, Google looked at that situation and concluded there must be a way to get a piece of the action. Since many of those merchants needed a way to provide secure online payment (which is why so many are using PayPal), Google figured this was a logical way to monetize the free service they were providing. So, along came Google Checkout, the search giant's answer to PayPal.
Now Google would like eBay to accept payments through Google Checkout too, hence the "Let Freedom Ring" moniker. "Freedom," of course, has a nice ring to it, but to eBay, this is like giving the fox freedom to roam the henhouse. Or perhaps it's like giving Target the "freedom" to install a kiosk inside of Wal-Mart. To eBay, this was simply an attempt to secure the freedom to steal their business.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
