…On Sunday I talked about eBay launching eBayClassifieds.com in two key U.S. markets. Then this morning, it was reported that San Mateo-based startup, Oodle, has been given the reins to Facebook‘s Marketplace application – essentially hoping to turn it into an online Classifieds tool for Facebook users. Then, there’s the news out of Spain today…

Remember when portals were all the rage? Well, today I am told that eBay Spain has gone eCommerce Portal, combining the offerings of the core marketplace – eBay Clasico as they’ve dubbed it – and eBay Anuncios, which draws in local classifieds content from LoQUo, the leading classifieds brand in Spain (and also an eBay property).

Now, what I hear again and again is that one of the things that has made eBay such a global success story across our core marketplaces and classifieds sites is that we allow our teams on the ground to act locally. You can see this in places like the Netherlands where consumers demand a classifieds site like Marktplaats, in favor of the more traditonal eBay Marketplace (http://ebay.nl) or in Korea where IAC works very well but looks wholly different from eBay.com. To answer the easy potshot: it was largely our initial experience of trying to airdrop eBay.com into China that confirmed the importance of listening to our different communities and delivering what their markets demand.

Which brings me back to Spain… I already know what you’re thinking: is this move related to the test of the eBayClassifieds.com in the US? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because both moves are a recognition that the regional teams know what is best for their markets and both involve our primary classifieds brands in those markets. No, because the US is a limited test in two cities while eBay Spain is a permanent move. With that in mind it is worth saying that we learn from every test and permanent change in every market, and we have organized ourselves globally to develop best practices that can be refined and localized as needed.

Does this mean that eBay.com will someday look like http://www.ebay.es? Probably not, but I would expect that we’re watching very closely to see how buyers and sellers in Spain use the local classifieds in eBay Anuncios instead of or in conjunction with their eBay Clasico national marketplace and that we will apply the best of what is learned to our US properties.

What do you think?

Cheers,
RBH

“We focus on building local communities by providing our users with an online marketplace to inquire, meet, transact and share with others in their town. Everything starts with this local community. Consequently, it’s very important for us that ads are posted directly by Kijiji users.”

He went on to add…

“We think this approach, supported by a very easy-to-use interface and clean environment, will allow us to capitalize on the market’s full potential and continue our explosive traffic growth. This potential is reflected every day in our community of over four million Kijiji users who often share their wonderful experiences with us, whether it’s finding a new puppy, buying a car from a neighbor, selling a couch, or finding a nanny for their kids.”

Given Wal-Mart’s core focus on new retail goods, I don’t think it’s a surprise that they chose to partner with an established classifieds aggregator over building their own from scratch. However, given that Oodle is essentially a search engine for classifieds (and less of a true marketplace) it does make for an interesting partnership. One could argue that with eBay already established as the leader in consumer-to-consumer marketplaces, the extension into consumer-to-consumer classifieds marketplaces represents a much more logical, natural extension of their business. But, as Martin indicated, it’s a huge market with plenty of room for new players. Why wouldn’t the “mother of all marketplaces” get in on the online classifieds action?

On a related note, I received some one-off emails since I first referenced Kijiji – ranging from “What’s up with that name?” to “how do Classifieds fit into the big picture for eBay?”. Some fast facts follow:

– Kijiji means “village” in Swahili and was first introduced in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Taiwan back in early 2005. Later that year, Kijiji spread to Austria, Switzerland and India. In July, 2007, eBay launched Kijiji U.S. in 220 cities.

– Kijiji is available in more than 1,000 cities/neighborhoods around the world with over 47 million users.

– Classifieds is the fastest growing business unit within eBay Inc. The Classifieds business includes five major brands: Gumtree, Kijiji, LoQUo , Marktplaats and Mobile.de.

Cheers,
RBH