So perhaps it was indeed the changed fundamentals (and not all the rumors) that caused the recent positive sentiment as eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) shares today broke the $30 mark, gaining 56 cents or 1.87% to close at $30.46.

Compared to the negative sentiment I posted about at the end of July, this is some change. First, we had a Goldman analyst that came out with a bullish note last week. Then, yesterday, it was a Morgan Stanley analyst. Today, we had Jefferies & Co. analyst Youssef Squali joining the rest of the analysts who note a higher than expected listing growth in the quarter. This should translate to a positive quarter, or even, as Squali said, "surprise on the upside."

To that, even Scot Wingo, a vocal critic of eBay's latest strategy, had to admit he sees "some signs of life from good ole' eBay core." More than that, GMV also seems to be growing, he notes.

For those who can't take too much eBay good news, I offer this: a Fool, who obviously refuses to be fooled, examined again the threat of Google Checkout. He found that it is alive and kicking but may surprise from the back door. He found that because of the incentive that Google offers the retailers, many of them push Google Checkout and try to close more sales using that form of payment (even by offering buyers discounts), much in the same way PayPal used to offer $5 for opening an account. This holiday season, he predicts, Google Checkout will be more visible.

Sheldon Liber and I have aggregated our latest thoughts on the ongoing eBay saga so you all will have something to SPEND your time on over the weekend. Seems like the eBay seller base is being rather vocal while the market watchers on Wall Street are yawning and just looking at eBay's balance sheet. That's a lot of zeroes.

Brian: With all the fierce hubbub these days on fee craziness on eBay, what is the online auction giant doing to quell the masses? Does it even have to? eBay stock has been doing just fine even as highly-motivated eBay sellers have been incredibly vocal all around the web on eBay's recent fee hikes. Sure, eBay has seen hikes before, and the resultant seller loudness has quieted down over time. What makes this situation any different?

Sheldon: Sellers claim they are spending to much for what they get! Buyers will have to spend on some cost pass-thrus somewhere along the line. EBay cannot ignore the fact that they are an ever increasing and larger percentage of the cost part of mechandise so they are contributing to a reduction in the desirability of their website as the customer finds themselves spending more and thus the site being less competitive with other sites.

Google shares closed up today to $373.73, an increase of $0.30 or 0.08% from Wednesday's close. With GOOG remaining steady today, is it losing its shine? I posed that question today, and my opinion is that the company still continues to make inroads into just about every area it can, even though short-term, skittish investors seem to want some kind of whiz-bang product or partnership announcement every week from the search behemoth. Janet Jackson once said what have you done for me lately, and Google continues to do plenty, but the recognition just wavers like a flag in the turbulent wind.

With a huge war chest of nearly $10 billion and with about $1 billion on tap for free cash flow this year, Tom Taulli posted today that Google is about to bump heads with the SEC, as nearly 40% of Google's assets are tied up in its securities.

Google, by regulation, would need to be traded as a mutual fund, something that would send shareholders of record now into a semi-frenzy. Competitors Microsoft and Yahoo! were able to request and receive exemptions from this SEC rule, and my bet is that Google will have the same thing happen. Will Google keep its cash tied up in Internet traffic and web surfer eyeballs? Why not -- it generates great cash influx for the company, as as Tom states, that's a great problem to have.

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.

Google shares took a nosedive today, crashing down to close the trading session at $375.51, a rather serious drop of $11.09 or 2.87% from Monday's close. What's all the hubbub, you may ask? After all, with recent releases like Google Checkout and with Google releasing a part of the AdWords administration console that will help it needed advertisers with possible click fraud spotting, all would seem to be peachy in the Google world.

That may be so, but -- still -- I believe Google's shares to continue to be overvalued when all comparative, methodical metrics are put into place. Google's even capturing the hearts and minds of consumers with its brand -- and this is a good start. The company *needs* to stay there over the long haul.

Perhaps AOL's new ad-supported portal strategy -- in a major shift for the company -- is seen to be having a possible future net effect on Google, and that's the reason for the share plummet today? Naw -- just regular market antics if you ask me. But, with Time Warner reporting second-quarter results tomorrow, we'll all see very soon where AOL is headed.

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.

How about the new Google Checkout, complete with lower-fare transaction costs? With the recent release of the Google Checkout online transaction processing service, many a face in the media was debating whether Google's new service was the "PayPal killer" or whether it would even challenge eBay's PayPal division at all. While the jury is still out, at least Google Checkout is not being coy about a large feature of the new service -- the ability for a "Seller Rating" that looks eerily similar to eBay's "feedback" structure.

Google Checkout's newly-released enhancement "Seller Rating" feature is similar to what eBay and Amazon.com offer these days. That is, buyers get to rate sellers on everything from price to shipping costs to delivery times to communication. With Google Checkout's rating system, it is completely independent of the Google Checkout system itself. Although Google is still developing the seller rating system for Google Checkout, I would expect this feature to be live within a few months most likely.

With competitor Amazon.com enhancing its feedback system just recently, Google -- as it should -- wants to ensure the sellers using Google Base and Google Froogle, for example, give the buyer a satisfactory buying experience. Although third-party sellers at Amazon.com were dismayed by the three additional questions presented to buyers in the ratings area, this is what it should be. Sellers need to clearly and concisely communicate shipping times, expectations and known issues *before* a transaction is completed, so there is no unnecessary damage control later.

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.

Daily Tech is report that Google CheckOut is being used by some well-known internet retails like Buy.com, Starbucks (SBUX), and Sports Authority. PayPal's parent, eBay, as Melly points out, is not budging.

Personally, and speaking as someone who jumps on every new Google thingy and doodad that I hear of, can't see bothering to sign up for GoogleCheckOut until I have to. I do a lot of shopping online, and most of it seems to end up being through Amazon one way or another, and they already have my information. Unlike, say, GoogleMaps -- which blows Yahoo and Mapquest out of the water -- GCO seems like just another way of doing the same thing I'm doing too much of anyhow. I don't need another shopping cart, I need a way to prevent myself from the check out impulse. Google UnCheckOut, that's what I need.

Yesterday, PayPal started allowing the use of Nochex payment system in th UK again after it banned it last Friday and after an open letter from Martin Greenbank, CEO of Nochex, questioned whether the EU Competition Commission should start investigating the matter.

There were no announcements when PayPal decided to ban the payment system and none when it decided to allow it back in, confusing its traders in both cases and leaving them scrambling to update their listings last Friday or face a lifetime ban, as is eBay's policy. Yesterday's quiet re-entry, again unannounced, left sellers confused and in need of updating their pages yet again.

In both cases, PayPal hadn't communicated with Nochex either to explain its decision. Nochex is a long-establish, Leeds-based operator.

As a major contributor to eBay's (EBAY) revenue, it might be understandable why eBay tries to force PayPal as a payment system. However, going head-to-head with other companies may not be the right way to go about securing PayPal business, especially not when Google Inc (GOOG) has options in its arsenal to hurt eBay where it matters - referrals.

PayPal should probably concentrate on improving their product vis-a-vis the competition rather than using (stooping to) such tactics. Not only can these tactics backfire, but they also don't give investors confidence in eBay and PayPal's ability to deal with competition.

Egad -- eBay users will not be able to use the newly-launched Google Checkout online payment system to complete the payment for won eBay auctions. That is a non-surprise, folks. Of course eBay wants to continue having customers use its Paypal system to pay for auctions so that it can get its rightful cut above auction listing fees and all the other fees it charges.

It is within eBay's right to ban any kind of payment system from its site -- and banning Google Checkout probably stems from the fact that eBay does not want competition for Paypal. Well, that may be their right, but it's obviously not in the best interests of consumers on eBay now, is it?

Giving consumers choices lowers prices and promotes competition -- and spurs innovation as well -- but I guess eBay does not want that to happen to one of its largest cash cows. No surprise, to be honest. But, can Google Base and Google Checkout -- as a team -- be a threat to eBay and Paypal? Google is probably trying to make that happen, although unseating eBay from the online auction throne will be a task of monumental proportions. So, in the larger picture, eBay and Google are heading down the path to being direct competitors -- something both companies probably know fully and completely.

What *another* week it has been for Google. As always, Google's promise to launch products early and often continued to come true this week, as Google Checkout was launched amid a spectacle of fanfare on Thursday. As Sarah wrote earlier, it seems Google's "G" products, heh, seem to strike fear into the press and some competitors alike. But, Google's products launches, while early and often, are successful some of the time and are unsuccessful some of the time. What doesn't grow and thrive gets killed off, and the rest survives. Haves are Google News and Google Maps -- have nots are Google Talk and, so far, Google Finance.

But, Google's product release schedule, while fast and furious, sure has assisted in this week's rally on the share price. Google shares closed up Friday to a massive $419.33 per share, a mild rise of $1.52 or 0.36% per share from Thursday's close. With Google starting the week off on Monday at $404 and ending Friday at over $419 -- which is a little under a 3.7% rise -- this is a percentage gain any company -- and any investor -- would love after just a week.

With Google Checkout sure to gain more attention this coming week -- even as the flames die down -- will this new online payment system pose a threat to established players like eBay's PayPal and retailers such as Amazon.com? I sincerely doubt that, as established and first-mover are phrases that mean quite a lot to an existing cadre of customers and merchants. Sure, Google does have ChannelAdvisor on its side already, which is a huge ally in the online commerce world. But, as always, time will tell if Google Checkout will be a mover/shaker or semi-bombastic flop. I'm betting on the first one, but not for a while.

Is the just-released Google Checkout going to be a severe threat to that fancy-laden Internet retailer we all know as Amazon.com? Not by a long shot in my opinion, which differs from this blog viewpoint in a pretty large way. No, I know why some stories and headlines are written, and that is to gain eyes reading them, at all costs. But, I fundamentally do not think Google Checkout is a direct competitor to Amazon.com at all. Let me explain.

The tight control that Amazon.com has over the entire shopping experience, in my experience, is second to none. There is not a retailer on the face of the planet that I have dealt with, online or offline, that serves up the incredible array of products and services that Amazon.com does with such customer splendor. Not only are the prices incredible and the shipping free (in most of my cases), but the customer service, attention to every single detail of the customer experience, and even the post-sale follow-up put Amazon.com in a class by itself. There simply is no equal, and it I sound like an Amazon.com fanboy, it's because I am. They *get* it, and I'm very hard to please as a shopper. Amazon.com reminds me of Apple, another company that *gets it* in regards to the end-to-end customer solution.

Now, with that said, I think Google Checkout will allow the millions of vendors and merchants on the Google AdWords train to make purchases incredibly easy and fast with a single, unified checkout system. This will increased the conversion rate easily within that universe. Browsers will become shoppers, and at a more steady and increasing rate. But, with Amazon.com having a huge first-mover advantage here, it's going to be incredibly difficult for Google Checkout to dent Amazon's hold on Internet retail anytime soon, just as it's going to be hard for Yahoo! and Microsoft to dent Google's Internet search dominance.

Google closed the trading day today with quite a lift, its shares up to $417.81, a decently dramatic rise of $11.70 or 2.88% over Wednesday's close. With the release of Google Checkout today, it has already won a major ally in the e-commerce world, and that ally is ChannelAdvisor. With everyone from eBay's PayPal unit to Amazon.com looking at the launch of Google Checkout, one thing is for certain: Google is most certainly sticking to its promise of launching products early and often. The Internet search giant has been on a tear recently, launching a new product every other week it seems.

Meanwhile, back in Metropolis -- that is, in a European Metropolis -- Google is winning a court case in Germany regarding the Google Book Search project, it's losing another case in France regarding a Google AdSense copyright violation on trademarked words owned by upscale bagmaker Louis Vuitton. One of the more frequent occurrences I can see in the future is anyone and everyone starting to sue Google for, well, every little thing that the Internet search giant does. It seems not too many people like a winner (as in Google), so expect the floodgates to continue pouring in with lawyers and plaintiffs.

Google Checkout, just unveiled today (this morning) after much rampant speculation about the name and features of what was previously rumored as "Google GBuy", has already recruited ChannelAdvisor as a fully-supported partner -- support that was already in place apparently, as the ChannelAdvisor support partnership was announced simultaneously with the public announcement of the availability of Google Checkout.

ChannelAdvisor is the leading supplier of channel management solutions and partners with such e-commerce leading companies like eBay, Amazon.com, Overstock.com and Shopping.com to ensure the millions of retailers selling products and services over the web can visibility into where most consumers turn for online purchases.

The fact that ChannelAdvisor was immediately available to use Google Checkout upon its release is a very large testament to the faith in Google's new online transaction product. Is Google Checkout a "PayPal killer" as has been widely reported? At this time, I just don't see that. PayPal has such a huge lead and integrates bank accounts (Google Checkout only processes credit cards) and it will take Google Checkout a while to come close. But, as always, it's great to have competition in the online transaction industry -- PayPal has too much of a stranglehold as is.

With the intense anticipation of Google's new payment system, GBuy – which some say is an eBay killer – the company has taken the opportunity to launch something else: Google Checkout. If it did this a month earlier or later, there likely would not have been as much buzz. But, then again, Google certainly understands how to leverage the Net for maximum PR.

Actually, Google Checkout is a no-brainer.  Basically, it is a bolt-on service for the company's wildly successful AdWords system. 

With AdWords, any company can advertise online -- in a completely automated way.  So, why not allow those prospective customers – who click ads – also use Google technology to process the purchase?

For consumers, it's a huge benefit.  For example, after I make a purchase using Google Checkout, it's much easier for me to make subsequent transaction (just a click – since my credit card is already in the Google database).  And, if thousands and thousands of other Google merchants use the system, it makes my life easier when I buy from them.

Of course, making it easy for consumers to buy is critically important for merchants.  Other benefits for merchants:  it is a matter of cut-and-paste for a merchant to add Google Checkout functionality. And the fee structure is competitive: 20 cents plus 2% of the purchase price of the item.  In fact, if a merchant uses AdWords, he or she gets a $10 transaction credit for each $1 expenditure on AdWords.

Google is doing what Google does best; that is, creating scalable systems that take friction out of a process.  And, with Google Checkout, it's a big-leap in the power of AdWords, which is the growth driver for the company.