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Buy.com Adds Google Content Listings

Buy.com became the latest Internet retailer to add advertiser text listings to its site yesterday, joining Google's AdSense content-listings program.

Buy.com shoppers now are presented with AdSense paid listings under a “Sponsored Listings” category in all of the retailer's product sections, including books, music and DVDs. AdSense content listings also appear on the site's search results pages.

The deal means Buy.com could steer shoppers to competing outlets. A visitor to the DVD section on Buy.com sees not only products to purchase from Buy.com, but also ads for competing DVD sellers such as Target, Columbia House and Pricegrabber.

“We are giving our customers additional highly relevant resources with which to make an informed buying decision,” Buy.com president Neel Grover said in a statement.

Google and Buy.com split revenue generated from clicks on these links. The companies did not disclose the split. AdSense partners overall received 80 percent of ad revenue generated from the listings in the first nine months of the year, according to Google financial filings.

Buy.com is not the only Internet retailer to adopt advertiser listings. In April 2003, Amazon.com began showing Google listings on its site. Others, like Best Buy and Circuit City, do not show paid listings.

Comparison-shopping sites Pricegrabber and Shopping.com show Google paid listings. The listings have proven lucrative for Shopping.com since it began running them in August 2002. Google advertising generated 44 percent of Shopping.com's $65.3 million of sales in the first nine months of 2004, according to Shopping.com's financial statements. Google guaranteed Shopping.com $16 million yearly for 2003 and 2004, and another $500,000 monthly under a separate agreement, Shopping.com reported in its quarterly filing.

Financial terms and the length of the Google-Buy.com agreement were not disclosed.

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