Google gives discount to FedEx users
Google Inc., owner of the most- popular Internet search engine, is offering discounts to customers of its online payment service who ship items with FedEx Corp., stepping up competition with EBay Inc.
Merchants using Google Checkout can save as much as 21 percent on express shipments, which are delivered in one to three business days, Mountain View, California-based Google said today on its Web log. Smaller discounts are available for international, ground and home deliveries.
The accord follows a similar agreement last week between EBay, which has a rival service to Google’s, and United Parcel Service Inc. EBay, the world’s largest online auctioneer, decided last year it wouldn’t offer Checkout as a payment option on its sites. Last week it also reduced advertising spending with Google.
Google unveiled Checkout a year ago as part of a plan to expand beyond its Internet-search business. The company added the service in the U.K. in April.
