Yahoo, eBay join forces in partnership
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060525/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_ebay
Internet powerhouses Yahoo Inc. and eBay Inc. are joining forces in an alliance that further defines the battle lines in an online showdown with rivals Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and AOL.
Under their partnership, Yahoo will become the exclusive provider of graphical advertising throughout eBay's Web site and will provide some search-generated ads, as well. Yahoo's brand and search engine will also be blended into an eBay toolbar that has been downloaded by 4 million users so far.
Ebay's PayPal service will become the preferred payment provider for purchases made on Yahoo's site, which provides a wide array of shopping, auctions and subscription services.
EBay's Skype Internet telephone service will be used to explore building another marketing vehicle that would allow advertisers to connect with prospective customers on the phone instead of through their Web sites. If the experiment works, it would mark Yahoo's entrance into "click-to-call" advertising, something that AOL already offers and a service that Google has been exploring, too.
