eBay's unique visitors and page views were down in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same period last year. However, time spent on the site per person increased, according to data provided by Nielsen Online.

Page views on the site showed an 11.3% drop year-over-year (YoY) in Q1-2008, dropping from 42 billion page views to 37.2 billion page views. Unique audience declined nearly 7%, dropping from 182.6 million in Q1-2007 to 170 million in Q1-2008. Interestingly, the average time spent on the site per visitor increased nearly 12 percent YoY in 2008.

As growth in page views and unique visitors on eBay has flattened since 2006, eBay has undertaken initiatives directed at improving the buying experience on the site in the hopes of bringing back customers. In early 2007, it began rolling out Trust & Safety initiatives to reduce fraud on the site, and it also began testing new search technology to improve the "finding" experience.

It's not entirely clear from the data why time spent on the site has increased while other key metrics have dropped. Some possible explanations may be that eBay has attracted a more serious shopper to the site, or that buyers are having a more difficult time finding what they want.

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