EBay is next to share customer data with advertisers

EBay is following in the footsteps of Facebook, Google and Amazon with its plans to share customer information with advertisers.It was recently found that eBay is divvying up its vast store of data into commercial segments to help advertisers target consumers on eBay and non-eBay sites.The shopping and auction website has compiled commercial data segments of people who buy clothes, music, books, automotive products and more.A spokesperson for the consumer-to-consumer, buying-and-selling website told Ad Week that the project is part of a strategy to “deliver more relevant, highly targeted digital advertising content to buyers both on and off the eBay platform on behalf of third parties, consistent with our privacy policy”.The decision taken by eBay comes in response to Amazon, its closest competitor, since it offers a similar service with an abundance of data sliced into commercial segments, keeping the individual names of customers anonymous and their specific purchasing histories secret.