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Filed under: Internet, Browsers

eBay launches browser-based price comparison tool

eBay Browser Highlighter
Online auction site eBay has launched a a new tool that makes it easy to find out how much an item is selling for on eBay even when you're visiting another site. It's called Browser Highlighter, and here's how it works. You download and install the tool, and then when you're searching for items on selected sites, a "compare on eBay" button will appear. Click the button and a window will pop up over the web page you're currently reading with a list of eBay items matching the term you were searching for.

Browser Highlighter doesn't work with every site on the web. But it does work with Google and Yahoo! search pages, Google and Yahoo! shopping pages, Amazon, and Nextag. Say for example, you're searching for an iPod. You can search Amazon for iPods, and see a list of items matching your query on Amazon. Then you can click the compare on eBay button to see if you can find a better deal on ebay before making your purchase from Amazon.

The plugin also comes bundled with the Skype browser extension that lets you click any phone number on a web page in order to initiate a call with Skype. This plugin's been available as a separate download for a while. While you can uninstall the Skype plugin once it's installed, there does not appear to be a way to opt out of installing it in the first place if all you want is the Borwser Highlighter.

Browser Highlighter works with Firefox and Internet Explorer and is available for Windows only. eBay plans to release a Mac version that works with Safari soon.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: Internet, Microsoft

Microsoft buys price comparison, research company for $486 million

Ciao
Microsoft is apparently throwing around some of the money it didn't spend on buying Yahoo! or Facebook this year. Steve Ballmer recently pulled $486 million out of his wallet to acquire Greenfield Online, the German company that runs price comparison and shopping portal Ciao.

The move could help Microsoft make inroads with European internet users. Ciao receives over 26 million unique visitors each month. Greenfield also operates an online sales and market research division, but apparently Microsoft isn't as interested in that business. PaidContent reports that the company plans to sell off the research arm and just hang onto Ciao.

Sure, Microsoft could have just pumped a few million dollars into making its own shopping site more useable, but when you've got mountains of cash lying around, sometimes it's easier to just buy an already popular service.

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