As for the data side of things, Google’s approach seems to be that discreet computing machines are passe’ versus AWS saying come on in, run your own VM. Google says, run your application and we’ll take care of the rest. While AWS is certainly got the momentum right now, it is possible that the Google approach may win out in the longer term.

There will always be diversity in the e-commerce arena, but theres just one social graph.

Google is right to concentrate its effort at the edges, esp. social. Look for social search integrated into Buzz soon.

Certainly, Google is aware this and are letting it continue, which driving boat-loads of searches to this competitor, especially as product search becomes more visible. Possibly because Google is hoping that people will continue to search on Google even when their purchasing intent is to buy on Amazon (most likely). Possibly because of Amazon's Adwords spend. Any other domination of their engine would be termed “unnatural” and drive changes in the algorithm.

Finally, if Google was to truly compete in commerce it needs a new revenue model. Selling AdWords next to product listings, as you see in Product Search today, generates virtually no revenue. They can't charge for clicks on the listings themselves because that messes with the purity or organic results. So where does that leave Google? Throwing Shopping on the scrap heap with Froogle and figuring out how the hell to monetize Maps and YouTube and sell more Android phones while continuing to build up those cash reserves by milking the CPC cash cow. It's inevitable.

http://www.keywordspy.com/research/search.aspx?…

Google and Amazon have been in a quiet feud for a long time. You’re right about Google wanting more of the eCommerce market. And you’re right about Froogle flopping.

But the backbone of Froogle was Google Base – and that still exists, powering Google Product Search, which is being offered more and more through ‘onebox’ presentations.

http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/image-based-google-shopping-onebox

The initial idea was to connect Google Checkout with Froogle and cut out all of the intermediaries like … Amazon. While they botched both rollouts, they still exist, along with the nifty Google Dashboard which can track all your purchases.

But lets not forget about books, which a colleague of mine referred to as the milk of the Internet. It’s at the core of Amazon’s business and Google took aim at it well over 5 years ago as it began to scan books. And Google Base was originally built with books, music and video in mind.

Shortly after Google announced the Google Books Settlement Agreement, Amazon stopped paying affiliates for keyword bidding traffic. It was a fairly transparent response to shutting out incremental AdWords revenue.

http://www.azhttp.com/2009/04/06/amazon-associates-program/

Google’s taken the long-view on their war with Amazon. They’ve worked at it and soon will have an iTunes like product for books that could compete heavily with Amazon’s core business.

As far as search goes, your personal experience aside, search trends are up regarding shopping and reviews. Research shows an increasing reliance on ratings and reviews, with users wanting a diversity of opinions.

I consult with a major review site so I have a fair idea of the volume and effectiveness of the vertical. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. Is Google trying to make it better? Yes but … Is Google trying to own more of it? You bet.

I’d argue that it’s Google which is attacking Amazon’s core.

This post also hints why it was so damn smart of Amazon to include data from “competitors” on its product pages, such that it (at least appears to) offer legitimate price comparison integrated into the shopping experience.

BTW – looks like AMZN was about 18% of all US e-commerce sales in 2009.

(as an aside, seems like overall comment quality has taken a beating since moving off disqus)

Worthless.