????顯然很多消費者的購物習(xí)慣都和我一樣,。亞馬遜現(xiàn)在正處于迅速增長的過程中，并且正在迅速攫取電子商務(wù)市場的份額,。數(shù)據(jù)顯示,，２０１２年亞馬遜的凈銷售額達(dá)到３５０億美元，占整個北美電子商務(wù)市場份額的１６%,。而且這個數(shù)據(jù)可能還低估了亞馬遜的真正實力,。亞馬遜的收入登記政策只允許把第三方商家的傭金和運費收入計作收入。如果我們把實際的消費者支出計算進(jìn)去（就像eBay的毛商品銷售額那樣）,，亞馬遜的市場份額還會顯著升高,。

????電子商家們現(xiàn)在在谷歌之外也有了一個非常可靠的廣告平臺,。他們可以通過“亞馬遜市場”項目把產(chǎn)品放在亞馬遜的網(wǎng)站上銷售,。目前亞馬遜已經(jīng)通過這些商家獲得了數(shù)十億美元的銷售額，而且這些第三方銷量的增長率要顯著快于亞馬遜的直銷業(yè)務(wù),。商家一般喜歡去有顧客的地方,，而顧客越來越多地扎堆到亞馬遜。

????這對谷歌來說是一件不得了的事,。谷歌的所有收入幾乎都來自廣告【排除剛收購的摩托羅拉（Motorola）,，２０１２年谷歌的４６０億美元收入中有４４０億來自廣告】，而且其中大多數(shù)廣告收入又來自于搜索,，而廣告業(yè)務(wù)的最大一塊蛋糕就是購物,。谷歌并沒有透露它最大的廣告客戶都有誰，不過第三方商家通過競買搜索排名來吸引客戶幾乎已經(jīng)成了一項運動,。搜索營銷管理公司W(wǎng)ordstream最近發(fā)布了一份報告,，其中的一部分內(nèi)容如下表所示。這家公司指出,，谷歌最大的１０個廣告類別中,，有４個是與亞馬遜存在競爭關(guān)系的零售領(lǐng)域，而且谷歌的很多大廣告客戶本身就是零售商：

????考慮到這些因素,，谷歌最近努力改進(jìn)產(chǎn)品搜索也就不足為怪了,。谷歌近日對它的產(chǎn)品搜索結(jié)果進(jìn)行了優(yōu)化設(shè)計，顯著地提高了質(zhì)量,。比如你可以試著在谷歌里搜索一下佳能（Canon）的高端相機(jī)Canon EOS 7D,。

????同時谷歌也宣布了一些新舉措,，乍一聽這似乎對一家搜索公司來說有些不同尋常：

????? 過去幾個月里，谷歌在舊金山測試性地推出了一項名叫“谷歌購物快遞”的當(dāng)日快遞服務(wù),。它在頭六個月里免費，而且該服務(wù)已經(jīng)囊括了塔吉特（Target）,、Staples、玩具反斗城（Toys-R-Us）和Walgreens等知名零售商家,。

????? 谷歌計劃通過BufferBox服務(wù)在城市的交通便利處設(shè)置若干暫存柜，用戶可以把自己的包裹寄到那里,，然后方便地進(jìn)行提取,。第一批暫存柜剛剛在舊金山投入使用，更多類似的暫存柜可能不久也會投入使用,。

????這些舉措可不是為了把全球的信息組織起來，而是為了提升通過谷歌購買產(chǎn)品的用戶購物體驗。谷歌想通過從頭至尾地提升用戶的購物體驗來拉近與亞馬遜之間正在迅速擴(kuò)大的差距,，同時保護(hù)它與零售商之間價值數(shù)十億美元的廣告業(yè)務(wù),。

????Apparently, lots of consumers are behaving like me. Amazon is on a growth tear and is rapidly gaining share of e-commerce. A quick calculation suggests its $35 billion of 2012 net sales in North America represented a whopping 16% market share of total North American e-commerce. And this probably understates their true position. Amazon's revenue recognition policies allow them to record only the commission and shipping fees on sales by third-party merchants as revenue. If you were to consider the actual consumer spend (comparable to eBay's Gross Merchandise Volume number), then their share would be substantially higher.

????E-commerce merchants now also have a very viable advertising alternative to Google: they can list their products for sale on Amazon through the Amazon Marketplace program. Amazon is currently generating billions of dollars in sales for these merchants, and these third-party sales are growing significantly faster than Amazon's direct business. Merchants typically migrate to where customers are, and the customers increasingly are on Amazon.

????This has to be a very big deal for Google. Virtually all of Google's revenue comes from advertising ($44 of $46 billion in 2012, excluding the Motorola acquisition), and the majority of that comes from search. And possibly their largest advertising category is shopping. Google doesn't release information on their largest advertisers, but it's become a sport for third parties to reverse-engineer the results. Take a look at a recent effort by Wordstream in the chart below. They report that four of Google's largest 10 categories are different segments of retail in which Amazon competes, and that many of Google's largest advertisers are retailers:

????Given this context, it's not surprising that Google has been hard at work on product search. They recently completed a revamp of their product search results and have significantly enhanced its prominence. Check out this search for a Canon EOS 7D, a high-end camera.

????They have also announced new initiatives that at first blush appear atypical for a search company:

????? In the past few months, Google has launched a test of a same-day delivery service calledGoogle Shopping Express in San Francisco. It's free for the first six months, and already includes merchants such as Target, Staples, Toys-R-Us and Walgreens.

????? Through Google BufferBox, Google has plans to place secure boxes in convenient locations throughout a city to which you can have parcels shipped to for easy pickup. Theyjust launched their first location in San Francisco, with many more likely to come.

????These initiatives are not about organizing the world's information, they're about enhancing the shipping experience on products bought through Google. It's part of Google's effort to shore up their start-to-finish shopping experience, trying to bridge their rapidly growing gaps with the hyper-aggressive Amazon and protect their multi-billion dollar advertising business with retailers.