---

eBay is set to introduce blog and wiki features at next week's annual eBay Live conference (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y06/m06/i02/s03). However, a preview of its guidelines shows eBay is limiting the content users can publish on them. This will likely come as no surprise to experienced eBay users, who must already navigate a minefield of eBay's 150-plus policies. But limiting the amount of self-promoting users can do may make them less attractive. And the guidelines may not go down well with the blogging community, which has already been buzzing about eBay's forthcoming community features (http://www.micropersuasion.com/2006/06/ebay_tolaunch.html).

Some rules are designed to prevent readers from being offended by content hosted on eBay blogs and wiki, such as rules limiting adult content and profanity. Other rules limit eBay's legal liabilities, such as ones prohibiting the use of intellectual property without the property owners' express permission and other illegal activities.

But some rules prevent eBay users from mentioning the company's competitors and even prevent users from promoting their own off-eBay businesses. The following are examples of content or actions not permitted in the "community content areas":

• Promoting or advertising to buy, sell, or trade any product or service listed or located outside of any eBay property (eBay, Half.com, eBay Stores, eBay Express, etc.). Sellers may only promote their Store or Sellers Other Items list, not individual listings.
• Including any advertising credit, including links, logos, or company names within published content.
• Linking from content published on eBay to Web sites that include offers to trade, sell, or purchase goods or services off eBay is generally not permitted. Please see Additional Information below for exceptions with Blogs.
• Publishing personal contact information of any person in any public area of eBay, including emails, phone numbers, name, street address, etc.

Note that blogging platform providers have Terms of Use limiting users, though generally they do not limit self-promotion, such as SixApart's found here: http://www.sixapart.com/general_terms.

Like eBay's new Guides feature, blogs and wiki may be designed for search engine optimization (SEO). Blog and wiki content would allow eBay to appear higher in natural search results.

The motivation for content as "search engine bait" may be evidenced by eBay's request that users not link to actual listings in their content. The majority of eBay listings expire within 7 days. So potential buyers searching Google who find an eBay blog post won't find links to expired listings - they will find links to the seller's eBay Store or "Sellers Other Items," which eBay will allow to be included in blogs.

Blogging guru Dave Taylor, a marketing communication strategist and founder of AskDaveTaylor.com, didn't know eBay's motivation for providing blogs, but said they should not be doing it for search-engine optimization purposes. Taylor predicted that sellers will likely link to listings in eBay blogs anyway, and if they get in trouble, they will stop using them.

"If eBay thinks they can legislate smart search-engine optimization, they are wrong. They should let the marketplace decide." He personally welcomed the ability to advertise eBay listings in blogs. "It would be cool to with one click include a link to a listing," and he said he has in the past made suggestions to Yahoo for them to integrate blogs with Yahoo Stores.

eBay made some exceptions to its new community-feature rules for blog use. But these rules are confusing and vague enough that eBay's own Trust & Safety employees are likely to have a hard time defining and consistently enforcing the rules:

Exceptions for Blog use

• Use of profanity (not patently vulgar language, hate speech, or adult material) in the context of a Blog will generally be permitted; however, excessive and inappropriate use is discouraged. Remember, you are responsible for all content you publish.
• Members publishing Blogs may include links to sites that offer goods for sale off eBay, as long as they do not promote outside-of-eBay sales or prohibited items; nor may the Blog contain links to commercial Web sites where goods from multiple sellers are aggregated by a common search engine.

Those who do violate eBay rules will face a variety of possible repercussions, including content removal; listing cancellation; forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings; limits on account privileges; loss of PowerSeller status; and account suspension.

When asked whether the blogging community would be upset with blogs specifically created for commercial purposes, Dave Taylor said "Does it matter?" He said some bloggers are cranky and want all bloggers to play by one set of rules, but just as eBay shouldn't dictate blogging activity, neither should the blogging community.

As for eBay, Taylor says it "should be what they were in the beginning - an open air bazaar." Customers will patronize the best vendors, he said.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/member-created-content-ov.html

---

About the author:

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.

See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

You may quote up to 50 words of any article on the condition that you attribute the article to EcommerceBytes.com and either link to the original article or to www.EcommerceBytes.com.
All other use is prohibited.

Sign up for our Email Newsletters


Email this story to a friend.

2 of 4