Google wants to be present in all Internet businesses. After telephony or laptops, it is now the turn of retail to compete with the offerings of Amazon and others. Google is working on a service that will allow the Internet user to give orders to a store from the company's search engine and Google will be in charge of delivering the product in one day. One of the keys to the service will be its speed to cope with the success of Amazon Premium which, for a subscription of $79 per year, guarantees delivery in two days. Amazon also operates AmazonFresh, a local grocery service, in Seattle.
Google Wallet, a payment system via mobile phone, would play a role in Google's strategy, for which it would launch an application that would offer advertising and searches for local businesses. The company would not open its own warehouses or have its own store. It would be dedicated to the distribution of products from third-party businesses, according to The Wall Street. The new service would also be integrated into the Google + social network. If it finally opens, Google would initially do so in a few cities in the United States, such as San Francisco and New York. In these cities, the company has Google Offers, a discount and coupon service that does not seem to be successful.
The business model of this new service is unknown. Whether you would charge a commission or rely on the service merchants' advertisements. In any case, the main idea behind this project is to promote local advertising which, it is estimated, in 2015 will account for 25% of the ads on the Internet. Google is also testing a service that would offer a list of reliable businesses on product quality and delivery times.
Antitrust investigation
Google wants to grow, but its gigantism worries the authorities. The European Commission has opened a preliminary investigation into alleged monopolistic practices of the search engine. According to the Financial Times, at the beginning of the year, the EC will publish the preliminary document of its investigations, which occupies more than 400 pages. The investigation began after several companies, such as Foundem, eJustice and Ciao, accused the search engine of practices aimed at harming the presence of competing services and favoring their own in the search engine. It also inquires whether it imposes conditions on advertising clients why the Google ad cannot appear on competing sites. The company's executive president has scheduled an interview with the European head of competition, Joaquín Almunia, next week. Initially, the reason for it is the purchase of Motorola Mobility by Google.
After the EC publishes the aforementioned document, Google will have two months to submit its response.