John Donahoe--president of eBay Marketplaces and a likely successor to CEO Med Whitman when she ultimately steps down--hopes to reverse trends -- like declining member growth by improving the overall
experience of shopping on the site.
Last year, Donahoe cited fraud and abuse on eBay as major problems. It was an overdue admission, in the view of many company critics. They contend
eBay tends to sweep such problems under the rug. In one of several moves to address the problem, the company introduced an expanded feedback system in January, allowing buyers to rank the performance
of sellers more comprehensively after a transaction.
Donahoe is also planning to pare down eBay's notoriously cluttered pages and rebuild its search engine. The company is also working
on ways to let large organizations create their own eBay-style marketplaces. Last year, for example, the Association of National Advertisers began testing such an auction service that let advertisers
buy and resell air time.
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