Monday, June 12, 2006

EBay Goes Ad-wards

"EBay is to launch keyword advertising - where internet users will be directed to specific auctions linked to words on the web page they are visiting.
Under the plan, site owners hosting the adverts for the online auctioneer will get a slice of the product sale price.

Called AdContext, EBay's new system may prove popular with blog site publishers who would be able to use it as an extra generator of revenue, analysts said.

The technique of contextual advertising is already used by Google and Yahoo. "

.. says the Beeb astutely adding that "EBay is one of the biggest advertisers on both Google and Yahoo and the plan could reduce its reliance on these sites, analysts said. "

Interesting , not just for its implications for eBay's business model and profits, (and indeed for the increasingly professionalised blog business model too), but also for what it might say about eBay's current EU and US immunity from liability for content originated by third parties. When eBay are actually facilitating the driving of traffic towards particuar auctions, by providing this particular advert model, with the specific intention of getting a cut of the final price (and driving that price up by greater traffic, one presumes) how neutral a third party intermediary really can they still be? (Also the contractual relationships must be fascinating.) I will shortly be writing up thoughts in this direction for the SCL's Journal of Computers and Law.

1 comment:

mike1144 said...

good post:)
thanks for sharing such good ideas with us:)