This is not good for Ebay. Article from slashdot.org

eBay Sellers Seething Over Targeted Ads

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday October 09, @11:23AM
from the buck-is-stopping-a-little-short dept.

hoagiecat writes “eBay isn’t just an enormous auction site; it’s also a publisher of Google and Yahoo targeted ads, which earn eBay money every time a user clicks on them. But those clicks take users to a new page, and lead them away from the auctions — and those who make their living from those auctions are starting to get upset. Is eBay doing the right thing to make some extra cash from the hot advertising market? Or are they cannibalizing their income and hurting the sellers who have been the backbone of their business?”

Wow what is this all about?(from slashdot.org)

EBay Admits to Bad Call on Skype

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday October 02, @11:24AM
from the fun-for-users dept.

MaineCoasts writes “The Times online reports that two years after buying Skype 2.6 billion, Ebay yesterday warned shareholders that they may have made a mistake. In essence, they vastly overpaid for the company. ZDNet offers analysis of the announcement: ‘Clearly, the current business model is not enough to satisfy eBay in light of how much the company spent on Skype. And the reason is simple. Even though Skype has done a very good job of getting users to download its software client, most people who use the service do so to make free Skype-to-Skype phone calls. The only way that Skype makes money from its subscribers is when people use its Skype-In or Skype-Out services. Skype-In allows users to pay to rent a phone number, which people on regular phones can call. Skype-Out allows users to call traditional phones or cell phones for a fee.'”

 

Maybe that was not a good investment