Tough Challenge ahead for eBay

[snugglypuppy]

Interesting reading here:  http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/27/magazine.../index.htm

[amy]

Meg said in another interview she's not worried about Google.  I think she should be worried.

EBay Inc Chief executive officer Meg Whitman said the company's expertise in running online auctions will fend off competition from Google Inc.

"We take every competitor very seriously, but we really do have a tremendous position in the marketplace," Whitman said in an interview. "We are the experts at running marketplaces. We've been at this now for 10 years."

EBay, the world's largest online auctioneer, is increasingly competing with Google, which in November debuted a Web site that lets users post information including classified ads and job listings. The threat from rivals including Google, the Internet search engine that is also developing a Web payment service, may force eBay to spend more on marketing and acquisitions to spur growth...

"The reality is that sellers sell in many different channels. Buyers buy in different channels," Whitman said. "Our job is to make sure we get the most of our buyers' share of wallet and that the sellers prefer eBay

full article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz...2003290704

http://community.tuliptools.com/index.ph...345.0.html

[snugglypuppy]

I agree Amy, I think eBay should be very worried, they finally have some competion. mileydog:

[Kristijntje]

Related article:

During the dotcom boom many firms with good ideas got out in front only to become roadkill as faster-moving competitors surged past them.

Not so Ebay. The online auction service not only created its own business but has gone on to dominate it. Ten years on, the auction house is only now beginning to experience some real competition.

Google and Yahoo are also building their classified-advertising businesses alongside Amazon, the online retailer that has been rapidly expanding its business beyond books and CDs. Microsoft is expected to launch an online classified-advertising site this year...

full article:  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,...89,00.html

[mandy]

Another related article:

Why is Craigslist so interesting and why mention it in the same sentence as eBay? Well, for starters, eBay bought 25 percent of Craigslist back in August 2004. eBay is much much bigger than Craigslist. It has many more users, tons more products for sale, and the revenues are chalk and cheese.

But, Craigslist is a direct threat to eBay...

My view is that the classifieds space represents a major opportunity. Just look at what Google and Yahoo are doing. There is a lot of excitement around Google Base which should move from a Beta service to the final product sometime this year, probably April would be a good guess, for Aprils Fools day...

Google Base represents another threat to eBay...

full article: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3116612

[amy]

A related article:

Investors have always known that eBay's swift expansion into every nook and cranny of online commerce would eventually slow as Web-based business spread throughout the world. But few imagined the mighty marketplace would be undercut by its do-no-evil Silicon Valley neighbor Google.

For years eBay has viewed Google as a partner -- not an adversary. The relationship between the two companies has grown strong on the belief that as e-commerce grew, so would eBay and Google -- thanks to the millions of online shoppers the search engine would direct to eBay's marketplace.

But the brotherhood of Internet giants has grown a bit strained of late, as Google's search engine has directed shoppers to e-commerce sites other than eBay -- one of its biggest advertisers. Meanwhile, as eBay's U.S. market share has begun to slip, Google has rolled out its own competing e-commerce services...

full article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/14471402.htm