The waters around the eBay kingdom were roiling even before the company announced the imminent departure of Jeff Jordan, president of its PayPal division.
Google, whose search engine remains a critical element in the eBay economy, intensified scrutiny around the online auction giant giant two weeks ago with a new rival to PayPal called Google Checkout .
But eBay spokesperson Catherine England called Jordan’s departure planned, and the timing just after the announcement of Google Checkout nothing more than coincidental, if unfortunate timing.
“Actually, the fact that he feels comfortable leaving is an indication of his confidence in PayPal’s position and future,” England told internetnews.com.
Still, news of the rival payment system from a player the size of Google has provoked reaction from eBay .
Yesterday, the auction site amended its “Accepted Payments Policy” to ban Google Checkout.
England told internetnews.com the company banned Google Checkout only because it is so new and untested.
“One of the standards we use to evaluate any service is that we look for a proven history and track record,” England said.
But some doubt that justification, pointing to eBay’s long track record of paying for Google AdWords, a payment process after which Checkout was modeled.
It’s the type of corporate maneuver Jordan will soon no longer have to defend.
Jordan last major initiative was the launch of PayPal Mobile. He joined the firm in 1999 before leading eBay’s North American division from 2000 to 2004.
In December 2004, he was named President of PayPal.
According to England, since third quarter of 2004, the number of PayPal accounts has increased 85 percent to 105 million.
Ebay said Rajiv Dutta, a former eBay chief financial officer and president of VoIP division Skype who oversaw the original PayPal acquisition, will succeed Jordan when he departs this fall to spend more time with his family.
