eBay Turns Out to Be Owner of Russian Online Classifieds Firm
Online auction firm eBay has turned to be the owner of an online classified ad service which operates in Russia. Media reports say eBay bought a share in the Slando web-site which spans Europe and Russia.
British Slando was launched in March 2006. WebPlanet reported Tuesday that eBay owns a stake in the company. “We can’t reveal the amount of eBay’s stake but I can say that the Americans do not interfere in our operation activities and give the managers space for decision-making,” Konstantin Kalabin, head of Slando, told Kommersant.
Slando allows its users to post free classified ads for things such as job openings, sale items and services. Users are welcome to make donations or pay for back up services, such as listing their ads first. Internet market experts estimate Slando’s revenue below $1 million since the project’s launch.
Slando’s classifieds network spans Eastern Europe, Portugal and Brazil. In Russia, the company has web-sites for Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Krasnodar Region. An estimated 40,000 people visit the Moscow web-site every day, clicking onto 500,000 classifieds.
Konstantin Kalabin estimates the classifieds market to be worth about $100 billion. The share of online ads is up to 60 percent in industrialized countries. Fyodor Ogarkov, executive director at major classified ad newspaper Iz Ruk v Ruki said he expects the online classifieds market to reach $50 million this year, representing growth of nearly 50 percent a year.
Troika Dialog analyst Vladislav Ryabyuk believes that Slando will have problems attracting a large number of ads and competing with major local players such as Iz Ruk v Ruki which publishes a newspaper and owns an online service.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 11, 2007
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