Data Processing: Making Money Ebay

eBay owned PayPal has been making some interesting acquisitions over the past few months that clearly show the direction of the company in capturing payments flow from digital goods, and physical products at a local level. The company bought local payments and advertising company Where for over $100 million in April, snapped up mobile payments company Fig Card and most recently shelled out $240 million for mobile payments company Zong. The payments giant is clearly serious about mobile and local payments and is buying its way into commanding the space. In terms of future strategy, PayPal believes that by 2015 digital currency will be accepted everywhere in the U.S., from local businesses to large chains.

Of course, this ambitious goal is easier said than done. Considering that PayPal is a digital product and doesn’t have built in reach to local businesses with point of sale systems, scaling to the local level is going to take a significant amount of work. We were able to chat with Sam Shrauger, VP of global product and strategy for PayPal about the company’s future strategy to dominate the ‘digital wallet.’

Shrauger tells us that PayPal’s plan is less about making the wallet digital and more about letting people take advantage of technology to use money better. As for making this a reality, Shrauger says that letting people use PayPal in the physical world is critical for the payments technology.

He explains that innovating in the payments space in the physical world is about giving customers mor options to pay, as opposed to offering a single technology. PayPal wants to add more ways your money can work for you, beyond just the payment itself. As for what that means, Shrauger declined the reveal the company’s plans but did say that PayPal would be launching new products later this year dealing with this issue.

There are two advantates PayPal has in its favor. First, the company now has over 100 million active users, which is impressive. And second, the company’s userbase is increasingly using mobile devices to pay for products. PayPal recently announced that it was upping the estimates of the amount of mobile payments transactions using the technology this year; doubling the estimate to $3 billion in mobile total payments volume (TPV) in 2011.

Payments in the physical world is going to be a big step for PayPal and I’m very curious how the company is planning to use its technology in this expansion. For Google, NFC and mobile phones are part of the gateway for payments in local, with the launch of Google Wallet. For Square, small businesses popularity and ease of use have been helping the mobile payments startup grow like crazy.

It’s not the first time I’ve pointed out that PayPal has an ambitious plan on its hands by becoming the digital wallet. And it should be interesting to see what killer technology the company has up its sleeve later this year.

Check out this video below in which PayPal President Scott Thompson challenges his employees to use only digital currency to pay for all of their purchases.

We all know by now about CM Punk's worked shoot on the WWE from this past Monday Night Raw.

We all know how epic it was and how it showed the talents of Punk by making us doubt if his promo was "worked" or a "shoot."

But the thing that made it great was not Punk himself but what he said in that promo.

He crossed the line on so many boundaries and delivered what most believe to be a gutsy promo as he basically took down the WWE with his words.

He mentioned many "forbidden" names and basically went on about his thoughts and why he wanted to leave in the first place.

I won't go into details but in case you don't know, here's what he said in his promo. (Courtesy of Wrestling Inc.)

"John Cena, while you lay there, hopefully as uncomfortable as you possibly can be, I want you to listen to me. I want you to digest this, because before I leave in three weeks with your WWE Championship, I have a lot of things I wanna get off my chest.

"I don't hate you, John. I don't even dislike you. I like you a hell of a lot more than I like most people in the back. I hate...this idea...that you're the best...because you're not. I'm the best. I'm the best in the world. There's one thing you're better at than I am, and that's kissing Vince McMahon's ass. You're as good at kissing Vince's ass as Hulk Hogan was. I don't know if you're as good as Dwayne...he's a pretty good ass-kisser...always was and still is. Oops...I'm breaking the fourth wall. [Punk waves to the camera.] I am the best...wrestler...in the world. I've been the best ever since Day One when I walked into this company, and I've been vilified and hated since that day because Paul Heyman saw something in me that nobody else wanted to admit. That's right, I'm a Paul Heyman guy. You know who else was a Paul Heyman guy? Brock Lesnar...and he split, just like I'm splittin', but the biggest difference between me and Brock is that I'm going to leave with the WWE Championship.

"I've grabbed so many of Vincent K. McMahon's imaginary brass rings that it's finally dawned on me that they're just that. They're completely imaginary. The only thing that's real is me, and the fact that day in and day out, for almost six years, I've proved to everybody in the world that I am the best on this microphone, in that ring, and even on commentary. Nobody can touch me. And yet, no matter how many times I prove it, I'm not on your lovely little collectors' cups, I'm not on the cover of the program, I'm barely promoted, I don't get to be in movies, I'm not on any crappy show on the USA Network, I'm not on the poster of WrestleMania, I'm not on the signature that's produced at the start of the show. I'm not on Conan O'Brien, I'm not on Jimmy Fallon, but the fact of the matter is I should be, and trust me, this isn't sour grapes, but the fact that "Dwayne" is in the main event of WrestleMania next year and I'm not makes me sick!

"Oh hey, let me get something straight, those of you who are cheering me right now...you are just as big a part of me leaving as anyone else, because you're the ones sipping out of those collector cups right now, you're the ones that buy those programs that my face isn't on the cover of, and then at five in the morning at the airport, you try to shove it in my face thinking you can get an autograph and sell it on eBay because you're too lazy to get a real job.

"I'm leaving with the WWE championship on July 17 and hell, who knows, maybe I'll go defend it in New Japan Pro Wrestling...maybe I'll go back to Ring of Honor...[Punk waves to the camera again] hey, Colt Cabana, how you doing? The reason I'm leaving is you people because after I'm gone you're still going to pour money into this company—I'm just a spoke on the wheel—the wheel's gonna keep turning. And I understand that...that Vince McMahon's gonna make money despite himself...he's a millionaire who should be a billionaire...you know why he's not a billionaire? It's because he surrounds himself with glad-handing nonsensical [censored] yes-men like John Laurinaitis, who's gonna tell him everything he wants to hear...and I'd like to think that maybe this company will be better after Vince McMahon is dead, but the fact is it's gonna get taken over by his idiotic daughter and his doofus son-in-law and the rest of his stupid family.

"Let me tell you a personal story about Vince McMahon. You know we do this whole bully campaign..."

Now many of you basically know what happens next as well, but this article is not about what happens next, it's about Punk's promo and what he said.

"I don't hate you, John (Cena). I hate...this idea...that you're the best...because you're not."

No truer word could have been spoken. I for one know everyone here has liked Cena at least once in his career, specifically when he had the Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick. You can't deny it.

He was once a rising star that everyone loved. Everyone wanted him to appear on TV just so they could see him. But then, something happened.

Creative screwed up.

They started booking him to be the best, a superhuman, if you will.

The whole company started to revolve around him. Raw started becoming "The Cena Show".

Everyone started becoming sick of seeing Cena all the time. He always had to win. It was becoming too predictable.

Then there was this streak that was given to Cena. It was a streak where he held the WWE championship for nearly a year, if not more.

WWE was making him "the best".

Fast forward a few years, and he's still on top, with as many—if not double—the number of haters that he had before.

He has won less matches than before, but his haters were still there, including a new batch of them.

But why is that? Why is the hate still there? Well, like Punk said, it's because of the idea that he's the best.

Ever since Cena became a household name at the top, he was made out to be the best. No one was able to reach the same heights as he did.

People were sick of it. He always won. It was always the same thing. Cena vs (insert any name here,) and the winner was always Cena. Rarely did the opponent win.

It was getting way too repetitive, but no one could do anything about it.

Hence how the Cena-hate reached its peak. Everyone hated the idea that Cena was the best because in fact, he wasn't.

He rarely put over anyone, and whenever they were reaching superstardom, he somehow had to win the battle that ended it all. He always won in the end.

People hated seeing Cena win all of the time. They wanted to see something fresh in the main-event scene. When it didn't happen, the hate just kept growing.

People ignored everything he does outside of the ring because of what they saw in the ring.

His whole charity work and help for the community was overshadowed by the persona that people saw on TV.

People just couldn't respect him. While his human side helped the people around him get better, his larger-than-life side didn't.

His "Superman" character wasn't helping the company to grow. In reality, it was altering its growth.

When all of the focus is on Cena, Cena and CENA, there is no focus on the rest of the roster.

Thank you, Punk, for making that clear.

"I don't hate you John (Cena). I hate...this idea...that you're the best".

I think everyone feels the same way.

People don't feel legit hate for Cena because he actually cares and has a passion for everyone and the business. But people do hate that Cena is the best in the WWE's eyes.

They hate the idea that he's the best because it stunts the growth of a company and brings nothing new to the product that keeps getting more stale with each passing day.

John Cena the person isn't hated by any means, but John Cena the wrestler is hated because of the idea that he's the best.

As long as it's there, the people will feel the same hate. Take it away and Cena will most likely be loved again.

"I don't hate you John (Cena). I hate...this idea...that you're the best".

Hopefully, WWE gets the idea that making Cena the best will not help them out in the long run, it will only make things worse.

Get the idea?

This article is one of hopefully a few that I intend on doing which analyzes Punk's promo bit by bit. If you want to see more of these become a fan of my work, give this article "Props," and/or leave a comment below. It will give me even more incentive to do another one of these in the coming days and if you wish, feel free to suggest which statement of Punk's promo you would like to see me analyze next. Or if you'd like, give me any promo to analyze as long as you provide a link to it and I'll try my best to make an article out of it.

Data Processing

Monday, August 1, 2011

Making Money Ebay

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