skype - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Online auction giant eBay enjoyed a good Christmas period, particularly in the UK and Germany, as fourth quarter earnings turned out to be higher than expected.

A rush to buy hard to find games consoles like the Wii and PS3 was one of the reasons given for the success, as total revenue for the last three months of 2006 reached $1.7bn, a 29% rise on the same period a year earlier.

The Venice Project, the latest venture of Skype founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, has been going for a week now and we received an invitation to try it out.

The P2P site aims to deliver an internet TV service which is as near to TV as possible, while adding the sort of social features you would get on YouTube or other video sharing sites. The service is currently being tested by 6,000 people.

Internet auction site eBay has announced a 10% rise in its third-quarter profits, posting a 31% increase in sales, to $1.4 billion (£748.9m) in the three months up to September. The company's net income was $281 billion.

The profits rise was driven by a growth in its auctions; its payment service PayPal increased revenue by 41% over last year’s third quarter results.

Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom are working on a secretive project which will see them compete with YouTube in the online video market.

The website, currently under the working title of the Venice Project, will aim to combine the video sharing of YouTube with the added attraction of professionally produced TV and video content.