Google is adding e-commerce transaction capabilities to
its Google Base consolidated web content platform.
Users will be able to buy products and services included in
Google Base with their credit cards for the first time.
As Google Base will now involve sellers and buyers coming
together to complete electronic transactions, the platform will now
inevitably be seen as a potential smaller rival to online trading
giant eBay.
Google Base has been in test mode by Google since last November,
and is designed to let users post all kinds of content to the
search engine's index.
As a growing portion of the content posted on Google Base is
items for sale, Google has decided to facilitate transactions.
Users will be able to buy items via their Google Accounts, which
require users to sign-up to a free account using a valid e-mail
address and password.