eBay Watch: 'Best Match' Testing, Skype 3.6, and Kijiji U.S. Reaches 200,000

eBay Tests Sorting by 'Best Match'

This is an important development. eBay (EBAY) is testing sorting search results by "best match" instead of the traditional "ending soonest" as the default view. The test is happening in the UK in a couple of categories.

I have mixed feelings about this potential change. On one hand, I realize this gives eBay incredible flexibility to try to improve the buyer experience. eBay can advantage the best sellers by placing them higher, can incorporate past purchase history of individuals to present better listings, and can even present listings that don't contain the search terms but are complementary to what the user is browsing for. This is exactly what Amazon (AMZN) claims is its competitive advantage and should increase conversion rates and buyer satisfaction for eBay too.

On the other hand, sorting by "time ending soonest" is an eBay hallmark. Not only is it an intuitive sort order for auction format listings, it is what the eBay community knows and expects. I like knowing I am in complete control of my search. I like knowing I am not missing anything that might start falling off the list if a behind-the-scenes algorithm starts making decisions for me.

As an investor, I will have to rely on eBay's A/B testing to decide what is right for the site. However, as a user, I can already foresee that I will be manually reverting to "time-ending soonest" when I browse eBay.

Skype Launches Version 3.6 for Windows

Skype launched Skype 3.6 for Windows on Thursday November 15. The only major new feature is high quality video at 640x480 and 30 frames per second. That said, because it requires a specific type of webcam and even additional Quickcam software, this will probably apply to a very small minority of users. But at least it is a sign of things to come from the leading VOIP provider.

Kijiji U.S. Reaches 200,000 Concurrent Ads

eBay quietly launched the U.S. platform of Kijiji at the beginning of July. It took about 11 weeks to reach the first 100,000 concurrent ads, which I blogged about on September 17th. Since then, it has taken only 8 weeks to double the size to 200,000 concurrent ads, a milestone Kijiji has achieved this week. Kijiji ads expire after a maximum of 60 days which means the growth has accelerated despite an increasing number of older ads falling off the system.