eBay Launches Classified Service

Updated from 4:41 p.m. EST

Months after its purchase of a 25% stake in Craig's List, a network of community sites based mostly in the U.S., eBay(EBAY Quote) launched its own collection of online classified sites called Kijiji.

eBay's stake in Craig's List -- as well as its purchases of Rent.com in the U.S., Mobile.de in Germany and Marktplaats.nl in the Netherlands -- had led to speculation that the online retail giant would move more aggressively into the classified ads space. eBay had played coy when asked about its plans, which became more clear with Kijiji's launch.

Classified ads have long been an adjacent market that eBay could easily move into. Not only do they allow people to find goods locally that are hard to sell on eBay's sites -- notably, large items like refrigerators and furniture -- but it also opens the door to services like finding a babysitter, making travel arrangements, renting an apartment, getting a restaurant recommendation or finding a date for the weekend. ...