SAN JOSE, Calif., and LAS VEGAS – June 12, 2006 – A record number of developers and entrepreneurs joined eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) technologists this weekend for the fifth annual eBay Developers Conference. Designed to ignite discussion about the future of online commerce and communications, the conference marks the first time developers from eBay, PayPal, ProStores, Shopping.com and Skype have come together to debate the technology and trends defining the evolution of the Internet. At the conference, eBay announced four new APIs and unveiled a contextual ad system, PayPal introduced a new Developer Hub and ProStores launched its first Developer Network.
"The eBay portfolio of businesses offers a powerful combination of commerce, payments, and communication tools for the new generation of developers and entrepreneurs," said Greg Isaacs, Director of the eBay Developers Program. "This conference celebrates the tens of thousands of developers in our extended community who are driving innovation and creating economic opportunities in creative, unexpected ways. Our goal is to give these developers the resources they need to succeed and to encourage them to push the boundaries of the Web."
Every year the eBay Developers Conference (www.ebaydevcon.com) highlights developer and affiliate opportunities in commerce, communications and Web integration, covering such topics as blogs and wikis, AJAX, XUL and tagging. Attendees gain insights into building successful businesses through in-depth technical and business sessions, hands-on labs and demos of new technology, and exchanging ideas with fellow innovators. This year's conference included keynotes and interactive sessions with leaders like eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, Intuit founder Scott Cook and Wired Editor-in-Chief Chris Anderson. Hosted at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, the Bay Developers Conference 2006 opened on Friday, June 10 and concludes today.
Throughout the weekend, conference attendees were the first to hear about new tools and resources for eBay ecosystem developers. The eBay Developers Program introduced four forthcoming new APIs: an eBay Express Search API; an eBay Express Shopping Cart API; an eBay Product Info API, which includes eBay Reviews and Guides; and a Contextual Keywords API beta. These new APIs will offer developers further opportunities to integrate their solutions with eBay Express and to create innovative applications on the eBay platform. More detail about the newly announced APIs will be posted on the eBay Developers Program Web site, www.developer.ebay.com.
Conference attendees also learned that the eBay Affiliates Program will introduce a beta version of new contextual ad system, eBay AdContext. Built on eBay's relevant keyword selection technology, eBay AdContext is designed to give affiliates an automatic way to incorporate dynamic eBay content into their Web sites. The system scans the text of a Web site for keywords and returns relevant eBay content to the web page. For example, a Web site about sports could use eBay AdContext to display ads for sporting goods listings or eBay search results for memorabilia related to a specific sports team. When users click on the eBay ad, they arrive directly on the eBay site. eBay affiliates can request to test the AdContext beta by contacting adcontext@ebay.com.
In addition, PayPal unveiled a new Developer Community Web site and Developer Hub, designed to provide merchants and developers with centralized access to the resources they need to integrate PayPal into their online stores. The new PayPal Community site, available at www.pdncommunity.com, offers new forums, blogs and RSS feeds to encourage developers to share ideas and connect with PayPal e-commerce experts and other members of the PayPal Developer Network. The Developer Hub, available at www.paypal.com/developer, centralizes all developer resources and provides access to an Integration Center with the tools, product documentation, API references and software development kits (SDKs), which are needed to easily integrate PayPal.
ProStores, an eBay Company that enables small- and medium-sized businesses to establish full-featured, customized e-commerce sites, launched the ProStores Developer Network at the conference. Through this new program, ProStores will work with the developer community to create innovative new tools and services that meet the technical and business needs of ProStores merchants. Developers can register to join the Network at www.prostores.com/developernetwork.
Today is the final day of the event, when sessions will follow an "Unconference" format. Taking a cue from the cooperative philosophy behind eBay's open APIs and mashups, eBay will invite the 800 conference participants to lead their own sessions and design informal discussion forums. The objective is to bring developers from across the entire eBay ecosystem together, create a forum where they can share ideas and build connections between the thinkers, architects, and entrepreneurs who are shaping the development of the Internet.
About eBay
Founded in 1995, eBay pioneers communities built on commerce, sustained by trust, and inspired by opportunity. eBay enables ecommerce on a local, national and international basis with an array of websites – including the eBay Marketplaces, PayPal, Skype, Kijiji, Rent.com and Shopping.com – that bring together millions of buyers and sellers every day.