10-19-2006, 08:33 PM
Quote:***A Message from Matt Carey: eBay Browser Support Changes Coming on November 1st***
Hi...I'm Matt Carey, eBay's Chief Technology Officer. I joined eBay last February after working in information technology for 20 years. My organization is dedicated to providing the eBay Community with the most efficient and reliable online marketplace possible. As technology advances and your needs get more complex, itâs our job to make sure we're delivering features and other site updates that are state-of-the-art in terms of safety, stability, and usability.
One key technology dependency for eBay is how Community members access our site. Back in 1995 when eBay started, most people were using slow dial-up connections. Slower speeds required us to minimize the amount of data we transmitted, which had big implications for our members. Today, more than 80% of US eBay members -- and over 73% of eBay members around the world -- use high-speed connections, and those numbers continue to grow. These faster connection speeds have enabled us to provide a much richer site experience.
We're similarly impacted by the browser technology our members use. Fortunately, today over 95% of our members use up-to-date browsers to access the Internet, including the more current versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. However, the remaining 5% are still using antiquated browser software or non-standard browsers that have very low usage. Supporting this software has an increasing number of direct and indirect costs to eBay and the Community. And, these browsers can cause safety issues (e.g., when theyâre not updated with the latest security technology).
Today, every update we launch must be developed to support the many old and uncommon browsers in use, in addition to current mainstream browsers. This means we spend a significant amount of development resources to support a very small fraction of our users. It also means that weâre limited in the types of features and enhancements we can deliver, which restricts the capabilities our Community members have on eBay.
In keeping with overall industry trends, we're going to adopt new web browser support guidelines for the new features that we develop. For the Community, this means that after November 1st, members using certain outdated versions of browsers, or browsers with very low adoption rates, may experience site issues or errors as we introduce new features or make other site changes. (Read our Web Browser Recommendations for Using eBay Help page to see a list of browsers and versions we recommend.)
Instituting these guidelines will provide several benefits for members and eBay alike:
* Using current browser technology means that you have the latest browser security features that help protect you and the whole Community against phishing and other types of internet fraud.
* You will receive the optimum site experience. Using old browsers can cause performance issues or other errors or problems on the site.
* Streamlining which browsers we support will enable eBay to respond more rapidly to deliver features that better meet the Communityâs needs.
Upgrade Early for the Optimum Experience
We want to make sure we offer members the support they need to upgrade their browsers before they encounter a site issue. In the next few days, we will start providing education and on-site help when members sign in with browsers that will not be supported in the future. For more information about browsers we support, please see our Web Browser Recommendations for Using eBay Help page.
Please note this important point: There will be no immediate change for members using browsers that aren't on our recommended browser list. While our guidelines will go into effect on November 1st, members may still use unsupported browsers. However, over time, if you're using a browser that isnât on our recommended list, you could experience errors and other issues.
Sincerely,
Matt Carey
Chief Technology Officer
eBay Marketplaces
