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Quote:When Borders needed a high-powered and efficient Web-based delivery service six years ago, the book giant courted Seattle's Amazon.com.

But now the marriage has ended, and it could put a crimp on Amazon's revenue and earnings, one analyst says.

The Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Borders Group Inc. said Thursday that it was severing ties with Amazon and will compete directly early next year against the Internet retail company...

The loss of Borders could cost Amazon $80 million to $160 million in annual revenue...

Quote:Anyone who has closely watched eBay, the giant online auctioneer, knows that their sellers don’t need them as much as they once used to, mostly because of contextual and performance based advertising. A retailer looking to acquire customers doesn’t need big marketplaces, because Google Adwords (and other such tools) do a pretty good job of directing buyers their way. And cheaper!

And like the Bird Flu, this disease known as the bigmarketplaceinitis, is now spreading to Amazon.com. On Thursday, the Seattle-based e-tail giant lost another third-party vendor...

For now Amazon.com can brace some of these losses – it has dozens of partners – but over the longer term, the company will face an increasingly hostile future, one where more Adwords type, or even more brutally efficient systems such as performance-based advertising networks diminish the role of big marketplaces....

Quote:sellers don’t need them as much as they once used to

Quote:Anyone who has closely watched eBay, the giant online auctioneer, knows that their sellers don’t need them as much as they once used to, mostly because of contextual and performance based advertising. A retailer looking to acquire customers doesn’t need big marketplaces, because Google Adwords (and other such tools) do a pretty good job of directing buyers their way. And cheaper!

Quote:Borders officially cut its ties with Amazon.com on Tuesday, with the rollout of its long-planned solo e-commerce site. The book retailer announced in March that it would go it alone online after teaming with Amazon for six years. Borders is now striving to differentiate itself from its online competitors -- namely, Amazon and Barnes & Noble -- with some unique features...

Borders faces tough competition in the online book-selling business. In addition to Amazon -- which Borders teamed with for seven years -- there's Barnes & Noble, and big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target...