eBay bans Google Checkout

Online auction site eBay has banned its buyers and sellers from using Google's recently launched online payments service, Google Checkout, in a move that seems designed to protect its own PayPal operation.

Any seller caught offering Google Checkout to prospective buyers faces having their listings cancelled, forfeiting their fees or even having their entire account suspended.

The news came as eBay announced Jeff Jordan, head of PayPal and seen as a potential successor to chief executive Meg Whitman, will leave later this year in the most high-profile defection from the business. He plans to spend more time with his family.

The decision to exclude Google's newest venture is yet another indication that Google is encroaching on areas that other companies consider to be their turf.

Having created the web's most widely used search engine, Google has moved into email, instant messaging, word processing, spreadsheets, price comparison and now payments. Companies from AOL and Amazon to Microsoft and now eBay are finding Google on their patch.

Google started marketing its payment service to online retailers last month, having previously made it available to buy adverts from the search engine or videos from Google Video.

But eBay has updated its accepted payments policy to specifically exclude Google Checkout. It joins a host of other online payment services that eBay does not allow including AlertPay.com, AuctionChex.com, eHotPay.com, Moneygram.com, neteller.com, ecount.com, and xcoin.com.

In its payments policy, eBay allows payments by traditional methods such as credit and debit cards, personal cheques, money orders and cash but strongly encourages sellers to offer payments through PayPal.

"From time to time, as new payment services arise, eBay will evaluate them to determine whether they are appropriate for the marketplace," eBay adds in its policy. The online marketplace is understood to believe that Google Checkout lacks a track record as a reliable and secure payment mechanism.

"Payment services that are not permitted on eBay may, in fact, be outstanding services for consumers in other contexts. eBay's evaluation relates only to whether a particular service is appropriate for the eBay marketplace," the policy statement says.