eBay’s Quiet Repivot

According to recent reports, eBay is at the forefront of some major turnaround as the result of some minor changes.

The firm’s most strategic shift is to its SEO practices, a problem the firm has recently identified as weakening its performance. The fix is aimed at upping active usership — and hopefully pushing top line earnings.

Historically, eBay focused on listings instead of products, which is not Google’s preferred method of search. By shifting their categorization purview to be centered on product categories instead of individual listings, analysts predict eBay will finally get back into alignment with Google.

That change is coming quickly. According to eBay, 60 percent of its listings were classified into product categories before the end of Q1. Last quarter active user growth was up only 5 percent, but that is still an improvement over several quarters of deceleration — and Seeking Alpha at least is willing to write some of that off to improved SEO performance.

eBay is also potentially in line to get a little bit of relief from currency pressures that have been exerting sharp downward pressure.

Currently, 60 percent of their sales come internationally and Fx cut 5 percent off of the top line last quarter. With the dollar reversing, that headwind is changing direction and pressure.