eBay Australia is doing away with Andale's auction counters and replacing them with its own counters. There is no charge for using the new optional eBay counters, which track the number of times a listing is viewed. eBay counters can be made visible to everyone, or sellers can use a "Hidden Counter" option, which displays only to the seller. Once the eBay counters are available, any listing already running with an Andale counter will keep the Andale version until sellers relist the item.
Andale has provided free counters for eBay.com users since signing an agreement with eBay in 2000. The contract allowed Andale to provide integrated counters and counter-related services to sellers directly from the eBay marketplace and eBay specialty sites. In 2003, Andale renewed the exclusive contract with eBay in a 3-year contract, which is up in June.
Andale initially acquired the counters in 2000 through its acquisition of Honesty, a company owned by Scott Samuel, founder of Ethical Technologies, which appears to have ceased operations last month. There is no indication whether Andale and eBay will renew the contract for Honesty counters in June.
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