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eBay fumbles Skype, bans Jajah
In an age where the Internet is fast enough and ubiquitous enough to be used as a first-resort for voice calling, it's surprising that eBay has taken such a Neanderthal stance towards the use of voice calling apps on its web site. It seem that eBay was never able to realize how great it would be for all mutual users of Skype and eBay to have click-to-call functionality in the world's biggest auction house. Want to ask the seller a question with only four minutes left to bid? Sure is easier with something like Skype than with old-fashioned e-mail.
Yet the capitalization of Skype on behalf of the eBay user community never-really happened, and the widespread use of Skype among eBay sellers never really took off. By some estimates, eBay could've doubled the size of the Skype user community had they fully integrated the tool into their auction system. In June of 2006, eBay announced a limited trial of 'Skype Me' buttons for eBay sellers, and the selling public took to it like fish to dry land, probably because it only covered item categories in which the vast majority of items on eBay aren't listed. The rest, as they say, is history.
So over the weekend it became clear that eBay wants nothing to do with this voice business, despite having purchased (for an absurd sum) the world's most pervasive desktop calling tool. Jajah, a VoIP competitor and Skype-clone-gone-mobile-tool, jumped in to fill the void, offering an easy way for sellers and buyers to get in touch vis a vis eBay auctions. The auction giant's response? Ban Jajah.
It really makes you wonder just how much garden is still growing inside eBay's strong walls.
Comments
3
Subscribe to commentsRR KesselOct 8th 2007 11:46AM
If Ebay were not the big dog, they sure would not get to be given their complete idiocy. Their seller-centric policies and their pisspoor customer service would drive buyers away were it not for the fact that our options are so lousy. What are we going to do, go to Yahoo auctions? There isn't a comparable competitor. Sounds like a great antitrust case to me (drops hook for lawyers...).
biffpowOct 8th 2007 4:43PM
If ebay advocated the use of voip to connect buyers and sellers, there'd be even less of a barrier between the two, allowing for more and more off-ebay transactions. This is obviously something ebay does not want, as it reduces their income. I believed all along that they wanted control of skype as a defensive measure to protect their core business model, and I'm certain of it now.
Ted WallingfordOct 8th 2007 12:30PM
Yes biffpow, but if eBay owns both Skype and eBay auctions, they have the ability to conceal the Skype identity of any buyer and seller, eliminating that challenge.