Word of yet another Google patent related to classified ads surfaced recently, as the search giant stayed mum and Google watchers speculated about the mysterious company’s plans to conquer the Web by becoming a one-stop info shop.
Google has filed a patent application for something called "Google Automat," a service that could tie into the Google Base database service and "Google Purchases" formerly "Google Wallet" online payment system, said Classified Intelligence, which helps media companies and others develop classified-advertising services.
UBS Investment Research analyst Benjamin Schachter, and Florida-based Classified Intelligence, a classified ad strategist, both described Google Automat as a way for individuals, or small advertisers, to more quickly buy advertising.
Google uses the slogan "Advertise Your Items for Sale on Google in under 1 Minute with Google Automat" to describe it, according to Classified Intelligence, which reviewed the patent application.
This is another potential blockbuster product for Google, however, keep in mind that nothing is currently available except a patent application, Schachter wrote in a note to clients.
Last month, Google said it was testing a new service, Google Base, which would let people post and make searchable any type of content. A sample page listed as examples party planning services, current events and used car listings.
Rumors of an eBay killer to come from Google date back to at least June, when Scot Wingo, chief executive officer of Web commerce consultant ChannelAdvisor, said Google had asked some of his clients to use an online payment system known as Google Wallet, then disclosures of Google Base, its much-rumored community-driven retail service that many people believe is meant to compete against sites like eBay, or Amazon.com.
With each incremental tip of its hand, such as the recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office applications, it is becoming increasingly clear that Google is creating a service meant to mirror that of any auction or retail Web site, where it could generate revenues by placing advertisements at various stages of the process.
Analysts repeatedly say Google’s user base, which is in the hundreds of millions of users, would be an instant challenge to eBay, the auction pioneer, or more community-focused sites like Craigslist.
Google Automat also fits into how all major search providers are focusing intently on their ad systems.
Google, Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.’s MSN and America Online constantly use their online wizardry to more accurately match a product to a person, and to get advertisements published quickly.
Google, which tends to keep its future services and strategies close to the vest, released a statement via e-mail that contained no specifics:
“Like many companies, we file patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees may come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services some don’t. Prospective product announcements should not be inferred from our patent applications.”
Stephen Arnold, author of "The Google Legacy," speculated that Google is building a large ‘content intake system’ that will let people search for all kinds of information and will have e-commerce and targeted advertising built in.
This fits into the mosaic of letting users input data and tie it into the same financial back end that does the AdWords and AdSense systems, he said. One manifestation of this is classifieds. Another manifestation is yellow pages.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based firm also recently filed patent applications involving the news content, and RSS, a very simple and widely used method to disperse subscription news stories and other subscription content.