Google signs advertising deal with eBay

August 28, 2006 -- Google Inc. has signed a deal to become the exclusive provider of text-based advertising for eBay Inc.'s Web sites outside of the U.S.

The two companies also said that, under terms of the agreement announced today, they will also work on interoperability between their "click to call" advertising services. The technology allows users to click on an advertisement or a product listing on eBay and be connected to the seller via a voice-over-IP call.

Specific terms of the multiyear deal weren't disclosed, although parts of it involve revenue sharing, the companies said.

EBay signed a similar deal with Yahoo Inc. earlier this year. In that case, Yahoo became the exclusive provider of graphical ads for eBay's U.S. Web site, and Yahoo and eBay also agreed to work together on click-to-call technologies.

In Google's case, users will be able to connect with eBay merchants or Google advertisers using either Google Talk or eBay's Skype service, the companies said. The companies will also "explore interoperability" between Skype and Google Talk to enable text chat and online presence, they said.

The companies won't begin testing the text-based advertising and click-to-call initiatives until early 2007. Those services will be evaluated for several months, and the rollout of specific components and timing will depend upon the test results and will vary from region to region.

EBay has already started offering a click-to-talk service to its sellers using its own Skype service. It went live in the U.S. in June and is now available in other countries, including the U.K., said eBay U.K. spokesman James Gordon-MacIntosh.

EBay said it doesn't expect the agreement to have a material impact on its financial results in 2006 or 2007.

The Google deal marks the latest in the jostling to sign potentially lucrative advertising deals on the Web. Earlier this month, Google signed another exclusive deal to provide search functionality and advertising to MySpace.com and other News Corp. Web sites. Microsoft Corp. followed last week with a deal to provide banner and text ads for Facebook, a social networking Web site.

(IDG News Service)