eBay and VeriSign Announce New Marketing and Services Alliance
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif and SAN JOSE, Calif., May 8, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall from COMTEX/ -- eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY chart, msgs), the world's online marketplace(TM), and VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRSN chart, msgs), the leading provider of digital trust services, today announced a new multi-year services and marketing alliance. Under terms of the agreement, eBay will deploy VeriSign authentication services, establish an eBay marketplace for highly sought-after domain names and enter into a multi-platform marketing and promotional campaign.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Our new relationship with VeriSign continues our tradition of providing eBay users with the latest tools designed to shop in a safe, friendly and trusted environment," said Jeff Jordan, eBay's vice president of U.S. operations. "Our agreement will also develop an alternative marketplace for businesses looking to obtain domain name registrations to start or expand their Web presence with a domain name that fits their objectives."
eBay, which facilitated more than $11 billion in gross merchandise sales last year via its online marketplace, will use VeriSign's Authentication Service Bureau (ASB) to authenticate new eBay sellers during the registration process on its site. The VeriSign ASB is a managed service that utilizes VeriSign's proven digital trust services infrastructure to reliably identify parties in online transactions or communications.
"As both the volume and value of goods sold over the Internet continues to grow, it becomes even more critical for users to feel a sense of trust in their online transactions," said Anil Pereira, executive vice president and general manager of VeriSign's enterprise and service provider division. "Validating the identity of sellers on eBay provides added comfort for site members and lays the foundation for both higher value transactions as well as new service offerings to proliferate."
One of the first marketing and promotional initiatives to be launched under the new alliance is aimed at eBay's community of 46 million registered users. It will be designed to reach eBay's extensive customer base to promote the sale of registration rights of domain names on eBay and establish the eBay marketplace as a new alternative for obtaining domain name registrations in the fast growing domain names spaces.
The domain name marketplace is beginning with .bz domain names, which are available on a joint eBay and VeriSign Web site at members.ebay.com .
About VeriSign
VeriSign, Inc. is the leading provider of digital trust services that enable everyone, everywhere to engage in commerce and communications with confidence. VeriSign's digital trust services create a trusted environment through four core offerings -- Web presence services, security services, payment services, and telecommunications services -- powered by a global infrastructure that manages more than six billion network connections and transactions a day. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.
About eBay Inc.
eBay is The World's Online Marketplace(TM). Founded in 1995, eBay created a powerful platform for the sale of goods and services by a passionate community of individuals and businesses. On any given day, there are millions of items across thousands of categories for sale on eBay. eBay enables trade on a local, national and international basis with customized sites in markets around the world. |
