Ebay to Announce Details on Skype Soon

 Reuters

Online marketplace eBay Inc. (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is set to detail on Tuesday how it plans to combine its Skype Web telephone-call service into its core U.S. auction business, executives said on Sunday.

“We will have some news on Tuesday about Skype,” John Donahoe, president of eBay’s Marketplace unit, told an audience of software developers at the company’s annual developer conference in Las Vegas.

Newsweek magazine reported on Sunday that the company plans to encourage eBay sellers to embed Skype calling links into auction pages in a few product categories, including cars, real estate and diamond solitaire rings.

So-called “click to call” features through which eBay customers can contact sellers directly via text message, voice or video conference have been a main selling point of eBay’s acquisition of Skype in October for as much as $4.2 billion.