eBay Snaps Up Price Comparison Site Decide.com
The world's largest online auction site (that would be eBay) has acquired Seattle startup Decide.com, a shopping research site that's helps users find the lowest prices. At the end of the month, Decide.com will cease to function as a separate site, making good on price guarantees for past purchases. As of today, however, Decide.com will not be allowing any more price guarantees on future purchases.
So, what's in it for eBay?
"Over the past year, we began experimenting with eBay and discovered an exciting opportunity to apply our team’s strength in data and predictive analytics to help over 25 million eBay sellers make smarter decisions and be more successful," Decide.com said in a FAQ page announcing the acquisition.
The entire Decide.com team -- 26 employees in all -- will join eBay in its new Seattle-area offices. They will presumably switch their focus to building marketplace tools for eBay sellers, ones that might help them decide if an auction is the best route for any given product or if they should use a better picture for their product, among other functions. Beyond that, eBay hasn't revealed exactly how it plans to leverage Decide.com's resources.
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
So, what's in it for eBay?
"Over the past year, we began experimenting with eBay and discovered an exciting opportunity to apply our team’s strength in data and predictive analytics to help over 25 million eBay sellers make smarter decisions and be more successful," Decide.com said in a FAQ page announcing the acquisition.
The entire Decide.com team -- 26 employees in all -- will join eBay in its new Seattle-area offices. They will presumably switch their focus to building marketplace tools for eBay sellers, ones that might help them decide if an auction is the best route for any given product or if they should use a better picture for their product, among other functions. Beyond that, eBay hasn't revealed exactly how it plans to leverage Decide.com's resources.
Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
