This Years April Fools Joke on Ebay Inc

Over the past few days I've seen several references to Jack Ma, of Alibaba fame in China, taking a stake or even acquiring the whole of the auction arm of Yahoo Inc. determined to take on eBay in its heartland.

The reports seem to have eminated from postings at the discussion forum at Pheebay.com but also made it to the Powersellersunite boards too.

I have now found the spoof Press Release that got circulated:

Can Ma Jack Up The Competition on Ebay?
Written by Dr. Ronald Cheung

Shanghai, China - Apr 03, 2007 -- /prbuzz/ -- Discussions are reported to be underway which could see Jack Ma take complete ownership of Yahoo Auctions effective July 14 to compete against eBay Inc. According to Jie YuRen of TaoBao, in this arrangement Mr. Ma could also be partnering with Google on new advance auction search techniques (porting over some of the technologies from Google Search, and Google Base).

Mr Ma signalled his USA entry plans in this Guradian article in December 2006 here. Ma's warning to rivals intent on believing that the cash cow could still be milked is far from subtle: "We did not beat eBay in the USA ... yet." That should be enough to send a shiver down the spines of more than a few boardroom Napoleons: worry about your own home turf, rather than trying to invade mine.

Joan Oleky of Google would not confirm the partnership with Jack Ma is being linked with an arrangement for Google's Checkout to be the default payment system in the new fledgling auction site.

Ina Porel of Yahoo had no comment when asked about the rumor that the new site is expected to run as a beta site for 3-4 months and in parallel with Yahoo Auctions, in order to allow Yahoo Auction Members to test it out. After the initial beta period, it is understood that all Yahoo Auction listings will be transferred to the new site and existing Yahoo Auction members are set to enjoy a guaranteed three years of free listings. Fees are also to be set at a fraction of those charged by eBay Inc.

Name:Dr. Ronald Cheung
Phone: (415) 928-3732
Email: drrcheung@yahoo.com

At first glance the release seemed fairly credible but, once you look again more closely, it becomes clear that the spokesperson for Yahoo, called Ina Porel, conveniently has a name which is an anagram of April One. Then there is the supposed Google spokesperson, Joan Oleky. Figured it out yet? Rearranged it becomes Only A Joke!

It seems the pranksters behind the spoof quickly admitted it which was obviously wise but, interestingly, many forum commentators have since gone on to comment how they wish this news was true. Are you listening Jack Ma? It seems some of the natives in eBayland are waiting for you to compete further West.

At least this spoof made a pleasant change from the usual saturation coverage of celebrity hair auctions, Jesus images on toast and such like.

eBay, I suspect, will enjoy the free publicity once again.