Psst...Nothing's A Secret on The Net..

Test market programs are supposed to be just that. A test. Usually they are done in secret, but of course nothing is a secret with the 'net. Take this example. I've heard similar reports of the same kind of stuff from eBay occuring in Asia too.

This is more about creating a self fulfilling prophecy via messaging.

Blue Horseshoe says let me diagram this for you. News leaks occur, the word gets out and Meg's statements about why eBay bought Skype appear to be true. The sell said analysts go "oh this is great, we see you are executing on your plan, we'll keep our ratings where they are or better yet, we'll move you from a hold to a buy or buy to a strong buy." The axiom in sales is called "tell them, tell them what you told them, then tell them what you told them again after you've done it." In Wall Street parlance it's called Investor Relations and it's a way to keep everyone informed and following the rules. As a financial institution eBay does this very well.

But leaks have no rules and that's where money gets made and lost. The quick and the smart move before the rest. Om's questioning the investment in his post. I'm not. To me eBay paid a lot to get into a market fast. More importantly it's a market they have to define. Over time though, more and more pundits are wondering outloud if it ever pay back? Om doesn't seem to know and neither do I.