EBay adds social networking

SAN FRANCISCO – Hoping to woo shoppers who say eBay Inc. has lost its folksy appeal, the world’s largest online auction plans to launch its own version of a social networking service today and is promising other customer-friendly features by year’s end.

The “Neighborhoods” feature encourages users to post photos, product reviews, tips and responses – creating a far more visual and interactive experience than eBay’s text-based discussion forums.

The move is one result of a broad reorganization strategy started in late 2006, when the San Jose-based e-commerce leader’s scorching growth rate began to slow.

Individuals listed 480 million items on eBay in the second quarter, down 6 percent from the first quarter and down 2 percent from a year earlier. The number of listings by “power sellers” who operated eBay stores was 79.1 million – down 25 percent from a year earlier.

Marketplaces President John Donahoe spearheaded a “philosophical shift” this year in which employees were regrouped from traditional function-based “silos” into two teams – a buyer experience team and a seller experience team.

Neighborhoods – which aggregates postings from eBay blogs, guides and reviews – was the brainchild of an “engagement” subgroup of the buyer-experience team.

Among the 600 new neighborhoods is “Shoe Heads,” intended as a haven for footwear fashionistas. Others range from Beyonce to Battlestar Galactica, and still more will be formed based on popularity of search terms and community feedback.

Later this year eBay will roll out “One Click Bid,” which should boost a buyer’s chances of winning during the final 15 minutes. EBay also plans to streamline its “My eBay” service and speed its cumbersome checkout process.