EBay to auction advertising on U.S. radio stations

By Eric Auchard

BERKELEY, California (Reuters) - Online auctioneer eBay Inc. (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it is ready to begin auctioning advertising airtime on 2,300 participating U.S. radio stations, expanding on an existing plan to sell cable television ads.

The move, which puts eBay into competition with Web search leader Google Inc.'s (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) recent expansion into radio advertising, involved eBay partnering with Bid4Spots to power what it calls the eBay Media Marketplace for Radio.

All major radio operators have joined the radio ad auction market, including Clear Channel Communications Inc. CCU.N, the largest U.S. radio advertising network, an eBay spokeswoman said. Google also is selling radio ads with Clear Channel.

The new U.S. auction market for radio advertising will go live on Wednesday and include both conventional terrestrial radio and Internet radio advertising. Stations in all of the 300 top-ranked radio markets are covered, eBay said.

"Available inventory is determined by participating radio stations and what they choose to sell for the next week," eBay spokeswoman Kim Rubey said.

She said the available advertising inventory includes primetime spots. Some 90 percent are in morning "drive time," midday or evening commute hours from Monday through Friday.

Ahead of the radio advertising announcement, shares of eBay dropped 85 cents, or 2.61 percent, to close at $31.69 in regular session trade on Nasdaq. The stock edged higher in extended trade to $31.75, up 6 cents, following the news.

EBay has said it sees the hundreds of thousands of sellers in its online auction markets as potential advertisers within the media marketplaces it is seeking to develop.