Sunday, March 1st, 2009
eBay to test eBayClassifieds.com in target U.S. markets
eBay is no stranger to running tests across its platforms. In the Classifieds Group, for example, they opened up Spanish language sites in Texas and Florida last year to see if the bilingual communities in those States would find it useful. They also tested Gumtree –known very well in the UK – in Boston, Chicago and New York for the expatriates living in those cities.
This week sees another localized test directed at the eBay Classified’s market. We’re getting ready to test “eBay Classifieds” in place of “Kijiji” in two U.S. cities, San Antonio and Pittsburgh, starting later this week. The U.S. team distributed emails to users in both markets over the weekend:
Dear Kijiji San Antonio user,
Starting in early March, Kijiji San Antonio is going to be trying out a new name, “eBay Classifieds San Antonio.” We here at Kijiji thought it made a lot of sense to start using the eBay brand name. After all, we are part of the eBay family and we are a classifieds site…so “eBay Classifieds” just seemed like a good idea. Of course, we’re very curious to hear what you think so let us know once you see the change.
Also, please rest assured that nothing will change other than the name and the domain! Everything else stays the same. That means your ad will stay posted on the site, but instead of finding it at Kijiji San Antonio you will now find it at eBay Classifieds San Antonio. And, as always, we will continue to be your FREE local classifieds site!
eBayClassifiedsWarm regards,
The Kijiji team
P.S. If you happen to browse to one of our sister sites, you may notice that they’re still called Kijiji. So consider yourself special! We chose only San Antonio and one other city to try out this new name for now.
You can read some initial takes on this news on both TechCrunch and TameBay.
Two obvious themes will come up I’m sure:
1. What was up with the name Kijiji to begin with? (Although, it has been stated that this is a test and that Kijiji will remain the primary online classifieds offering in the U.S. and internationally) The easy comment on the blog in the past has been regarding the name specifically.
2. Kijiji vs Craigslist (you can see this already over on TechCrunch). It’s widely accepted that Craigslist is the name folks think of in the US when one thinks of online classifieds but a) Kijiji has continued to grow steadily in the North American market and, more importantly, when you take the eBay Classifieds Group as a whole – it’s clearly the leader in online classifieds with 80 million unique visitors and close to 19 million live ads. It should also be pointed out that the comScore graph used in the TechCrunch article addresses Kijiji globally (including LoQUo) but does not address the other Classifieds brands around the world like Mobile.de, Marktplaats, Gumtree, Den Bla Avis and Bilbasen.
It seems like a no-brainer to tie the eBay brand to its classifieds business in my opinion, particularly when one looks back at John Donahoe’s recent remarks at both the Stanford Accel Digital Symposium and the Goldman Sachs Tech Conference (listen to John Donahoe and CFO Bob Swan speak at that conference here) last week. Some key themes that came out of those discussions:
1. eBay is a company that has always emphasized the ability to leverage the synergies of its different business units and technologies (eBay, PayPal, etc.) but we’re also acknowledging that we’re not going to force synergies that quite simply aren’t there. (Referencing Skype as a great standalone business for example).
2. Further mobile and broadband adoption will help accelerate online consumer spending in the near future.
3. eBay Inc. is focused on connecting buyers and sellers across any format.
That third point seems the most fitting here. Although user experience, search and listings between eBay.com and eBayClassifieds.com will be completely separate during these tests, one would think that a cross-platform consumer experience would only benefit both buyers and sellers (and eBay for that matter) in the long run. Buy and sell what you want, whenever you want, wherever you want.
I’m interested to hear from folks in San Antonio and Pittsburgh on their user experience once this test kicks off later this week.
Cheers,
RBH
Tagged: classifieds, ebay, eBay Classifieds, ebay inc, ecommerce, gumtree, kijiji, Markplaats, online classifieds, tamebay, techcrunch
Chris @ TameBayOn March 1, 2009 at 4:37 pm Said:
Kijiji – what an awful name! You can tell eBay must have spent a fortune on marketing consultants to dream up that one.
Either that or (as I prefer to believe) someone had a seizure while their right hand rested on their keyboard. Kijiji could just as easily have been called Swawaw if they had happened to hit a few random keys with the left hand instead :D
(Go on then…. admit it was the hugely expensive consultants, I dare you ;-) )
auctionwallyOn March 2, 2009 at 12:37 am Said:
Actually, if I remember correctly, eBay purhased Kijiji when it was already named.
But I agree, it’s lousy name, even here I had to check twice before I was sure of the spelling.
Kijiji does not have at a lot of juice to it yet. It’s no Craigslist, that’s for sure. eBay owns 28% or so of Craigslist.
I’d like to see them focus on that rather than Kijiji which I think is going to die. To be honest, until I saw it posted here, I though Kijiji had faded away.
Maybe it’s big in other countries though.
AW
Jose MallaboOn March 2, 2009 at 9:53 am Said:
@auctionwally
Kijiji was built and launched by an internal team from eBay Inc. We entered the U.S. in July 2007 with Kijiji after strong growth in Canada with that platform. It took about 4 years in Canada to grow and take the leadership position in that country. Kijiji U.S. does about 5 million unique visitors per month. It currently is the local classifieds platform we use in Germany and France.
The other classifieds businesses: Gumtree, LoQUo, Marktplaats, Mobile.de, Den Bla Avis and BilBasen were acquisitions added to the Classifieds Group over the past few years. In total, the group drives more than 80 million unique visitors per month globally.
And, you are correct it is 28% of Craigslist. I’ve seen different numbers reported in the media, but that is accurate.
Regards,
Jose Mallabo
eBay Inc.
auctionwallyOn March 2, 2009 at 10:50 am Said:
@Jose Mallabo,
Thanks for putting me straight on my misconception of the origin of Kijiji.
I have used it and find that the platform is very user friendly, but did not get any response to my ads.
The same ads were placed in CL with a good response. This of course could have been due to my not knowing how to optomize Kijiji.
Are there any plans to change the name of the site?
Thanks for your response.
Walt
auctionwallyOn March 2, 2009 at 10:52 am Said:
@Jose,
No need to reply to the last post, I see now that “eBay Classifieds” will be used.
AnuncioOn March 3, 2009 at 2:54 am Said:
have you seen the new http://www.eBay.es homepage? new classified sites under eBay brand: http://www.eBayPisos.es (housing), http://www.eBayCoches.es (cars), http://www.eBayAnuncios.es (goods)
mr. guinnessOn March 3, 2009 at 6:11 pm Said:
what is with these branding moves?
Kijiji? it doesn’t matter what it was called when eBay bought it, the name is terrible. The thing about a website/service when you own it; it can be rebranded. The desire to do so is being outweighed by not bothering. It’s a real conundrum that eBay fails to take on directly.
also, what does ebay not understand with respect to ancillary web properties? not everything needs to be preceded with “ebay”. in fact, anything related to “ebay” comes with a whole portfolio of risks in the public eye. that’s just what things have come to.
MattOn March 10, 2009 at 8:34 pm Said:
I think eBayClassifieds is a great idea.
I would love to see it also include local (pick up available) eBay listings as well. That way, if I’m looking for something like a couch in my area, I can just check one site and be done with it. This would give extra exposure to eBay listings, while keeping the local classified feel to the classified site.
Of course, I’d also like the option to just look at the classifieds, without the eBay listings mixed in as well.
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