Eric Schmidt speaks up on GooPay, denies Google wants to compete with PayPal
AP reports that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has denied that Google is launching a competitor to PayPal, even as he confirmed that Google is in fact readying some manner of payment system.
"The payment services we are working on are a natural evolution of Google's existing online products and advertising programs which today connect millions of consumers and advertisers," he said. That's not much to go on but I would guess that Google's payment system would allow them to manage a cost-per-sale advertising model, in which they can integrate advertising placements, clickthroughs, sellthroughs, and user behavior.
In any case, Schmidt went to pains to disabuse the notion that GooPay would be a PayPal killer. "We do not intend to offer a person-to-person, stored-value payments system," he told AP. It's pretty unusual for Google to break its silence on unannounced initiatives. Perhaps they were concerned about the rumormill unnecessarily punishing eBay's stock?
Related stories: GooPay makes sense for Google's shopping, video, premium content businesses
