

Is this Official Google merchandise site? - kr0y
http://www.google-store.com/
Where to buy original Google merchandise online?
======
ErrantX
As ther5e is confusion here YES it is _an_ official Google store.

googlestore.com is Google's official _US_ store where they sell merchandise. I
am 99% sure (having read it on Google in the past) Merchandise Mania Ltd have
the worldwide resale rights on merchandise (hence googlestore.com linking to
google-store.com for map locales outside the US)

EDIT: dolt I was almost right. A bit of poking around and it looks like
Merchandise Mania are like the Cafepress of the corporate world. So they
provide the infrastructure, printing and shipping and Google just sets up the
merchandise they want to sell :) makes sense I guess.

EDIT2: <http://paulsmania.blogspot.com/>

That is linked from the Merchandise Mania offical site (as a blog) and in the
about section says: _Merchandise Mania - an award winning Promotional
Merchandise supplier based in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire. Their
international client base includes Google, Bosch, McDonalds Restaurants and
many many more._

:)

------
kr0y
The googlestore.com links to google-store.com if we click anywhere on the map
except the North American continent. So is the hyphenated site kind of
official?

~~~
keekO0o
By the way clicking on Canada and America takes you to
<http://googlestore.com/home.asp.>. notice the .asp in the end... while all
other countries are pointing to google-store.com/index.php ... odd!

~~~
sounddust
Google is likely outsourcing the operation of the store to 3rd parties. Makes
sense, as it would probably be more trouble than it's worth for Google to sell
the stuff themselves.

------
JeremyBanks
The Google about page (<http://www.google.com/intl/en/about.html>) links to
googlestore.com, without the hyphen. The site is similar in appearance, but
not the same; I would assume that the linked site is a fake.

~~~
csomar
i looked at the site without the hyphen and it took me to the one with hyphen?

~~~
JeremyBanks
Ah, interesting. It didn't do so for me, they appeared as different sites.

------
daremon
<http://googlestore.com/home.asp> is the USA+Canada official Google store.
Probably it runs an older shopping cart script written in MS asp.

<http://google-store.com/index.php> is the official Google store for the rest
of the world . It uses osCommerce!

------
kr0y
I wanted to buy Official Google merchandise (especially the Rubik's Cube and a
few wearables). The only site which pops up in Google search is the link
above. But I am skeptical. Is the Google Store official site by Google? Doesnt
look like that. Also where can I buy official Google merchandise, online?

~~~
jonknee
<http://www.googlestore.com> is the real address.

------
ekpyrotic
In the Q&A:

"Q. Help! I searched for ?????? on Google.com and cant find what Im looking
for/get wrong results! A. Im afraid we can ONLY answer questions relating to
the Google Store. Our friends at help@google.com will be happy to assist you
in any other Google related enquiries."

Google would not use punctuation so gratuitously and miss apostrophes.

------
themanual
Looks official but they do not use the official Google checkout!! See
[http://www.webdigi.co.uk/blog/2009/google-store-does-not-
use...](http://www.webdigi.co.uk/blog/2009/google-store-does-not-use-google-
checkout/)

------
kingsley_20
It is official. When I did some (read: lots of) volunteer translation for
Google years back, I got an email from Marissa Mayer asking me to pick out
something from the store as a reward.

------
spoiledtechie
Anyone else notice the real google store at
<http://www.googlestore.com/home.asp>

is using ASP.NET? MSoft wins again.

~~~
LargeWu
Actually it's probably classic ASP. ASP.NET uses the .aspx extension.

------
keekO0o
It seems they are banking on the brand Google, it really doesn't have anything
that makes it look like a Google Inc. website... something's wrong!!

------
blurry
Registered to Merchandise Mania Ltd, Borehamwood, UK.

------
spoiledtechie
Its built in PHP and doesn't use nifty URL rewriting at all. Nope, can't be.

------
SingAlong
yes! it is the official Google store IMHO.

Searching for the "Google Store" brings it up as an ad or highlighted result.
<http://www.google.co.in/search?q=google+store>

Google would have removed it if it was unofficial :P

Also <http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/?p=715> links to it.

------
jonknee
No. Check the WHOIS.

