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Comment by ToastyMallows | Hacker News Reader

Didn't they say the same thing about Google Checkout and Google Wallet? Yet nothing has changed.

Apples and pears? Google does not own one of the world's largest online retail outlets, whereas Amazon already has its own hugely loyal customer base. Different?

Exactly. Google does not have my credit card and I don't want to give it to them. Amazon already has it. Just like I prefer to use PayPal when I can to avoid giving a new online merchant my credit card directly, I could now use Amazon for that purpose.

If I hadn't ever created a PayPal account in the first place then I would have no motivation to make one. With Amazon I already give them the credit card info to make purchases on Amazon. PayPal is just a middle-man so I have no reason to use them already.

Well, except that PayPal lets you receive payments too. Now that I think about it, I believe I created my PayPal account originally to accept payment for a website job. Only later did I add my credit card to make eBay purchases. So I can't completely replace my PayPal account with Amazon services yet.

Google might not have your credit card, but it has the credit cards of 500 million people that have Android phones and purchase apps[1]. I think that's a pretty sizable chunk of the population. Being able to use Google to buy things (and digital things) is huge. Yet Paypal still rules as of today.

[1]: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HugoBarra/posts/R5YdRRyeTHM

I think that if Amazon starts to become more like Paypal, then we'll see more stories of them freezing funds and locking accounts. I would be much more upset if my established Amazon account was frozen over a trivial payment issue.

True that Google doesn't own the world's largest online retail outlets, but it is one of the worlds largest web companies. On par with Amazon. Google also has a loyal customer base (Android, Gmail, Chrome, people that swear by Google+), I think it might be a closer comparison than you think.

Good point, I forgot about Play.

Customer service might make the differente, since Google hasn't got any.

I'll definitely agree with that. I've called Amazon many times, yet I've only talked to someone at Google once (bad Google Offers purchase).

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