The Inner Skypetic in all of us

eBay's proposed $4.1bn acquisition of Skype makes sense for many reasons.

The breakdown of the numbers in the extended body of this post show the surface rationalization.

Benefit 1: Infusion of fresh faces to pre-existing (and otherwise stagnant) user base

I've heard that the second benefit is going to be the cost savings associated with "customer service" - hence Benefit 2: the ability to talk to the already cheap call centers in India at even cheaper rates (computer to computer)

...but I think Benefit 3 is the real "new marketing" glimmer, namely: the ability for buyers to talk directly with sellers and visa versa, either live or through voice messaging. Doing this humanizes the purchasing process and will without question, lower any risk-factor which might have come into play.

KEY NUMBERS: U.S. and Worldwide (Source: comScore Media Metrix)

Total Unique Visitors (in thousands)

   US           July 2004                  July 2005               % Change

eBay              60,824                    61,715                       1.4

Skype                 385                      1,490                   287.0

comScore Media Metrix found that 664,000 U.S. visitors saw both eBay and Skype sites in July 2005.

Worldwide    July 2004                  July 2005               % Change

eBay             168,175                    179,229                    6.6

Skype               5,599                     30,051                 436.7

comScore Media Metrix found that 9.5 million visitors worldwide saw both eBay and Skype sites in July 2005.