In its story EBay Chief Spurs Growth on PayPal, Beats Google Unit Bloomberg.com reports that in 2004 eBay and Google had almost equal sales revenue. Since then revenue tripled for Google to US$10.6 billion in 2006 and eBay's rose 82% to US$5.97 billion. Remember these results. Bloomberg continues:

Google and eBay financials in the global ICT revenues context

That last paragraph quotes figures from Bloomberg on eBay's market capitalisation.

From the graphics below, available at BusinessWeek's The Info Tech 100 and published in early July 2007, we can track Google and eBay stock prices over a five year period.

	Google stock price (US$) over five years Source: BusinessWeek,  July 2007		eBay stock price (US$) over five years Source: BusinessWeek, July 2007

Lightbulb's view is that, like Google, eBay has been doing some good business-building things of late, including acquisition in May 2007 of StumbleUpon for US$75 million. SeekingAlpha has a good assessment of that deal.  

With all the talk about Google and eBay revenues or sales results, let's put their first paragraph figures in the context of the global information and communications technology (ICT).

The graphic (screen right) is also from BusinessWeek's The Info Tech 100. It illustrates the continuing dominance of traditional global IT, computer, phone and telecommunications companies. In comparison the sales of Google and eBay are almost tiny.

Google and eBay in the Australian ICT revenues context

Looking at all this from an Australian perspective is even more sobering: 

• No Australian company appears in The Info Tech 100.
• For advertising-supported business models, the general trend continues as noted in the following Lightbulb post of 11 February 2007: Australian advertising revenue is draining overseas.
• Online marketing revenues in Australia are currently running at a little over A$1billion, based on 2006 figures.
• A$1 billion is also roughly the total current stock market valuation of one Australian company, Wotif Holdings Ltd.

There are developments in Australia deserving of more detailed analysis, though compared to the United States it is much harder to report on local events due to limited and sporadic available local information sources in print and online media.

Drawing out one issue from the pile, holding growth back locally might be the gap in funding. In the story, "Web 2.0 a venture into new territory", Julian Bajkowski of The Australian Financial Review  (28 June 2007, p 22) reported that "The Australian Venture Capital Association estimates that local funds poured A$320 million into technology in 2006, a figure dwarfed by a US market of US$24.5 billion."

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Further reading on PayPal and eBay: Shopping list for e-commerce and The business of GoogleBay is business

Further reading

• 7 hints for venture capital and OPM
  
• Venture capital, start-ups, Web 2.0 and Wall Street
• Special collection: Legal Case Studies
• Business Finance Selection Tool
• US venture capital looks abroad
• Fund raising success stories in 2006 AVCAL report
• Shopping list for e-commerce
  
• Services description: Business Finance and Commercialisation Strategy & Innovation