Meg Whitman, eBay's chief executive, says the four dominant Internet companies--Google, Yahoo, eBay and Amazon--will increasingly focus on their core competencies rather than attempt to move in on
each other's territory. Whitman sees eBay continuing to specialize in e-commerce, payment and voice communication, while Google will continue to stand for search, Yahoo content, and Amazon retail.
eBay will only compete with these companies on the "fringes," she says, while each companies' core business will remain specialized. Whitman's views are somewhat contradictory to those held by many
industry observers. Google, for example, plans to move into online classifieds through the recently launched but little-used Google Base, and it also plans to deploy Voice-over-Internet-Protocol
technology on its Google Chat service. This year, Whitman said, eBay will focus on integrating Skype with its core auction site; she said the ability for buyers and sellers to talk to each other
online will facilitate trade.
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