Virtual Entrepreneur

eBay to Censor Forthcoming Blogs and Wiki

eBay is set to introduce blog and wiki features at next week’s annual eBay Live Conference However, a preview of its guidelines shows eBay is limiting the content users can publish on them. This will likely come as no surprise to experienced eBay users, who must already navigate a minefield of eBay’s 150-plus policies. But limiting the amount of self-promoting users can do may make them less attractive. And the guidelines may not go down well with the blogging community, which has already been buzzing about eBay’s forthcoming community features. Some rules are designed to prevent readers from being offended by content hosted on eBay blogs and wiki, such as rules limiting adult content and profanity. Other rules limit eBay’s legal liabilities, such as ones prohibiting the use of intellectual property without the property owners’ express permission and other illegal activities.

But some rules prevent eBay users from mentioning the company’s competitors and even prevent users from promoting their own off-eBay businesses. The following are examples of content or actions not permitted in the ‘community content areas’:

Promoting or advertising to buy, sell, or trade any product or service listed or located outside of any eBay property (eBay, Half.com, eBay Stores, eBay Express etc). Sellers may only promote their Store or Sellers Other Items list, not individual listings;

Including any advertising credit, including links, logos, or company names within published content;

Linking from content published on eBay to Web sites that include offers to trade, sell, or purchase goods or services off eBay is generally not permitted;

Publishing personal contact information of any person in any public area of eBay, including emails, phone numbers, name, street address etc.