GBuy Finally Arrives

This morning’s Wall Street Journal discusses Google’s GBuy system that is coming in the next few days…

To attract consumers, Google plans to offer an unspecified rebate to people who complete online purchases using GBuy, according to one person briefed on the company’s plans…

Here is how the service will work: Consumers who search for items like “shoes” or “strollers” on Google’s search site will see text ads with a symbol or icon designating advertisers that accept GBuy payments. Shoppers normally would have clicked on an ad and been linked to that merchant’s Web site. Now, while they will still be linked to the merchant’s site, they will go through a different checkout process integrated with Google if they choose GBuy for their transaction…

Google plans to charge merchants a 2.2% commission on a sale, plus 30 cents per transaction using its payment service, according to people briefed on Google’s pricing. That is higher than Pay-Pal’s lowest published rate of a 1.9% commission plus 30 cents per transaction.

Despite the recent hoopla over Google’s CPA explorations, I think this could be a bigger “sit up and take notice” moment for affiliates who rely on search without a dedicated consumer base for a major part of their income. Instead of going through the affiliate site to reach the merchant, GBuy sidesteps the middle person by linking a search item straight to a dedicated checkout process on the merchant site from search results.

We’ll see how many merchants sign on and how effective (and efficient) the program is with consumers over the coming months. GBuy’s potential impact, coupled with eBay’s AdContext points to an interesting second half of the year for affiliate marketing. I’m looking forward to the discussions at Affiliate Summit!