28 May 2009 | Author: Andrew Girdwood Head of Strategy

Has Google just given eBay 30 days to accept new T&Cs?

Google has rolled out changes to Google Base's Terms and Conditions and given users 30 days to accept the new rules or discover that their items no longer feature in the search results.

Google Base is used to populate Google's Product Search, a free service widely used by retailers.

Has Google just given eBay 30 days to accept new T&Cs?

In an email to users, Google wrote; "Please know that you have 30 days to sign in to your account and accept the new Terms of Service. After that time and until you accept the new terms, your account may be suspended and your items will no longer appear in our search results."

In section 8 of the new rules, Google states; "If your application or site enables third parties, including end users, to provide content to Google Base, it must clearly and conspicuously disclose to such third parties that their content will be provided to Google and made available to the general public through the Google Base service."

Many retailers collect user generated reviews and auction sites like eBay allow users to submit products for sale. This data; reviews, price, product name and product descriptions is sometimes used by the search engine as part of Google Product Search.

In those instances where Google simply extracts the reviews and product data as part of a web crawl, the changes to the Google Base T&Cs will likely have no effect. The retailer is not using Google Base to populate Product Search.

However, should the online retailer provide a feed composed of this user generated content and send that to Google Base then they may be within the scope of section 8. Is that retailer providing a site that enables third parties to send content to Google Base? It is certainly true to say that in many cases the retailer is providing a system whereby users enter content and it is then sent to Google Base.

If online retailers are providing Google Base feeds compiled from user generated content (such as auction items) then they may continue to do so within these new terms and conditions by simply making it very clear to their users that Google Base is being used. Many online brands, however, may be hesitant to do so.