There is no suggestion that eBay now plans to change the way in which it currently spends on search engine advertising.

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However, there is considerable risk should EBAY shares continue to decline.

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If it is Craigslist or eBay, there are plenty of opportunities to sell all the gifts you got last year, in order to fund this years season expenses.

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"There's a balance here that eBay is going to have to strike, " said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, an online privacy advocacy group.

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There is no technology visionary at the top of Ebay's organization chart, unless you want to include newly appointed board member and Netscape cofounder Marc Andreessen.

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It is a grey area, but there is a difference between selling occasional personal items on eBay and selling for profit.

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While Zaarly is essentially going after a market between Craigslist and eBay, there are a number of start-ups in this space.

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Meg Whitman might be aware of this (eBay is a platform and ecosystem company) but so far there is no sign that she appreciates the platform and ecosystem route.

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There are other online auction sites, but they are much smaller. eBay's real competition, however, is increasingly coming from all over the internet, not least from people selling directly off their own websites and using online marketing methods, such as purchasing search terms on competing sites such as Google, to promote themselves.

ECONOMIST: eBay