Web auctioneer eBay Inc said on Monday it had bought Tradera.com, a small Swedish rival, for about $48 million. Tradera.com has more than 750,000 listings at any given time, eBay said in a statement, adding it had plans to expand online trading in Sweden using its new investment. eBay said it did not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial guidance issued with its first-quarter results last week. Tradera’s investors include Provider Funds and TIME Vision bpart AB. - Reuters. What do you think what will happen to online listings/online classified ads market in the near future? eBay has recently bought many European classified ads websites like Mobile.de, Loquo, GumTree, Marktplaats. Classified advertising is a $100 billion-plus industry worldwide. And it's changing fast. As classifieds evolve, a select few companies will make a lot of money. A few more will make a little money. We know that eBay makes a lot of money? But who else is making or will make? I think that LOCAL online listings sites will also make a lot of money.
Use the edit feature next time, bud And I think it's a waste of money right now. They should have waited.
More and more niches in business are being monopolized. Its scary for the little guys. Unless one of the big fish buys our little creations.