Ebay, Yahoo Shuffle Ads Around In Bid To Beat Google
from the three-card-monte dept
There's been so much chatter about possible mergers and alliances among the big internet companies, it's a relief to finally have some news -- even if it doesn't live up to the hype. Of course, analysts are insisting that today's partnership between eBay and Yahoo will alter the competitive landscape online. But it's hard to see what all the fuss is about. Yahoo will serve graphic ads on eBay's site, which is interesting only in that most people wouldn't think of eBay as being an important advertising play. In exchange, eBay will get better treatment from Yahoo, as in more links to ongoing auctions. Some might look at these deals and use the term synergies, though another way to look at this trade is to simply call it "a wash". Other parts of the deal could be interesting. PayPal will become the sole provider of payment services at Yahoo!, though it's strange that the popular service wasn't already in use. The two companies are also looking into Pay-Per-Call advertising, though that much-hyped space appears to be languishing. It's understandable that both eBay and Yahoo fear Google, and want to strengthen their position, but that won't happen from trading ads back and forth. Just a thought, maybe they should try developing new products that are actually superior to Google's.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Pure genius!!
LOL!! I bet they never thought of that. (Not that Google is the uberwebsite or anything, but c'mon...that was funny.)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Fucking Tools
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Innovators Dilemma
How about addressing the fact that ebay has 61% inactive users...people who have not LISTED even one item or BID, not bought...but even ONE bid in the last 12 months. Maybe that the service sucks?
Sorry....but it's obvious...advertising on ebay, how about kicking me in the nuts first....here comes 70% inactive customers.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
More links to current eBay auctions????
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Re:
If you use PayPal to process credit cards on line, you pay them a small percentage (anywhere from 0.5% to 4% of the total sale amount to PayPal to pay for their services.
For most small to medium sized companies, this will cost them a lot less than securing their own Web site, getting an on line merchant account and paying a few hundred precious dollars per month for these services.
The problem is that as the sales number grows, so do the total monthly PayPal fees. At one point the scales will tip and it will be cheaper for the company to use an on line merchant account and have a shopping cart software developed for their site. So they stop offering payments through PayPal.
Owning a small business myself, I have found PayPal to be a very nice stepping stone, but I don't see it as a permanent solution once sales start to grow.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
WTF
The only thing EBAY is good for is if you live in Zimbabwe and you cant find whatever it is in the local store. Everything sells for WAY more than its worth, unless you are selling something, which leads me to believe most people on there bid on their own items to drive the price above retail. Of course then there's the $5 they charge to lick a stamp and slap it on a box. Hell I'd lick stamps until my tongue fell off for that salary.
And of course the only thing YAHOO is good for is, well, ummm, well I guess if you like a screen full of ads and propaganda its ok. Other than that well, ummm, its good for.... uhhhhh.... help me out here.....
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DUMMMMMY HEAD
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Wow incredible 2 companies trading ad space and tr
[ link to this | view in thread ]