eBay Toolbar Featuring Yahoo! has been released.
eBay has launched a new version of its toolbar that combines the features from both eBay and Yahoo.
Users of the new “eBay Toolbar Featuring Yahoo” can search for items on eBay and Half.com and conduct Yahoo searches. Advanced search includes Yahoo Local, Yahoo Video, Yahoo Answers and more.
eBay’s Jeff Loui, who has been working with some Yahoo experts with his team, announces the availability of the new ebay toolbar featuring some of Yahoo’s functionalities.
The toolbar’s new feature includes:
- Improved Search: Search all of the Web, eBay, eBay Express, Half.com, and more, invites eBay’s description of the product.
- One Click Access to favorite destinations: Access sites you visit the most, such as Yahoo! Mail and My eBay, with just one click.
- Account Guard: Protects both eBay and PayPal accounts against fraud.
- eBay Alerts: To help users monitor bidded items through notification alerts.
The toolbar also provides buttons that make eBay.com and My eBay just a click away. Users can also customize the toolbar to add or remove buttons.
In addition, the new version of the eBay Toolbar continues to offer Account Guard to help protect users from spoof websites and Desktop Alerts, which lets users know when there’s been activity on items they are watching, bidding on, or selling.
Existing Toolbar users can continue to use the old version, and eBay said it is working on a Firefox-compatible toolbar.
eBay had announced plans for the co-branded toolbar when it entered into an advertising agreement with Yahoo last year.
Although this might sound a simple development in terms of eBay and Yahoo cooperation, the fact cannot be discounted that this cooperation might be given a deeper underlining meaning.
Another aspect of the product launch provides insight into the state of things between eBay, Google, and Yahoo; eBay and Google may no longer be pals, with the recent spat between eBay and Google, this is a simple news items that could explode into gargantuan proportion once a buzz about it starts populating the interweb.
Unfortunately, one “feature” that was left out is compatibility with Firefox. But Loui assured readers that eBay and Yahoo were working on this, and that “we will be back with more updates as we have them.”
Whether this is an unconscious move on eBay’s side, the fact of the matter is that the toolbar features Yahoo services and not Google or other search engine. Or is it a conscious move after all?