Kijiji (English pronunciation: /kiːˈdʒiːdʒiː/ kee-jee-jee; Swahili: [kiˈʄiʄi], village[1]) (aka ebayclassifieds.com) is a centralized network of online urban communities for posting local online classified advertisements. It is a subsidiary of eBay launched in March 2005.[2] Kijiji websites are currently available for more than 300 cities in Germany. Further Kijiji countries and regions are France, Italy, Canada, China, India, Taiwan, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, and Japan. Kijiji was made available to selected cities in the United States on June 29, 2007.
Kijiji offers similar services and is seen as a competitor to Craigslist with the biggest differences being that Kijiji gets much less U.S. traffic[3] and has an extensive pets section. Kijiji's owner eBay is also a minority shareholder in Craigslist. In April 2008 eBay launched a lawsuit against Craigslist claiming that their executives were attempting to weaken eBay's investment, while in May of the same year, Craigslist filed a countersuit claiming Kijiji had stolen trade secrets and that eBay used misleading tactics to promote the service.[4][5]
[edit] More about eBay Inc. classifieds
In November 2004, eBay acquired Marktplaats.nl, which offers a similar classifieds service in the Netherlands, holding an 80% market share.[6]
At that time Marktplaats.nl had branched out into Spain, Germany, Turkey and Canada under the brandname Intoko. Intoko Spain merged with LoQUo, Intoko Germany merged with Kijiji Germany. Intoko Canada merged with Kijiji Canada. Intoko Turkey migrated to the Kijiji platform and is operating under Intoko.Kijiji.com.tr.
In May 2005 eBay acquired Gumtree,[7] which offers a similar service for cities in Britain, Ireland, Poland, Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Spanish company LoQUo.[8] One month later it acquired OpusForum.org, another website offering online classifieds in Germany.[9] In July 2006, Klaus Gapp, the founder of OpusForum, noted that after its acquisition it had "merged with its new Kijiji classifieds business in the German speaking markets of Austria, Germany and Switzerland."[10] In August 2008 Kijiji re-branded their India site to Quikr.com.[11]
The Kijiji Germany website has changed its name to eBay Kleinanzeigen.
Kijiji withdrew its personal section in the United States.
In March 2010 eBay unveiled a new classifieds site, called eBay Classifieds, to replace its old site, Kijiji, in the United States.[12]
Kijiji offers similar services and is seen as a competitor to Craigslist with the biggest differences being that Kijiji gets much less U.S. traffic[3] and has an extensive pets section. Kijiji's owner eBay is also a minority shareholder in Craigslist. In April 2008 eBay launched a lawsuit against Craigslist claiming that their executives were attempting to weaken eBay's investment, while in May of the same year, Craigslist filed a countersuit claiming Kijiji had stolen trade secrets and that eBay used misleading tactics to promote the service.[4][5]
[edit] More about eBay Inc. classifieds
In November 2004, eBay acquired Marktplaats.nl, which offers a similar classifieds service in the Netherlands, holding an 80% market share.[6]
At that time Marktplaats.nl had branched out into Spain, Germany, Turkey and Canada under the brandname Intoko. Intoko Spain merged with LoQUo, Intoko Germany merged with Kijiji Germany. Intoko Canada merged with Kijiji Canada. Intoko Turkey migrated to the Kijiji platform and is operating under Intoko.Kijiji.com.tr.
In May 2005 eBay acquired Gumtree,[7] which offers a similar service for cities in Britain, Ireland, Poland, Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the Spanish company LoQUo.[8] One month later it acquired OpusForum.org, another website offering online classifieds in Germany.[9] In July 2006, Klaus Gapp, the founder of OpusForum, noted that after its acquisition it had "merged with its new Kijiji classifieds business in the German speaking markets of Austria, Germany and Switzerland."[10] In August 2008 Kijiji re-branded their India site to Quikr.com.[11]
The Kijiji Germany website has changed its name to eBay Kleinanzeigen.
Kijiji withdrew its personal section in the United States.
In March 2010 eBay unveiled a new classifieds site, called eBay Classifieds, to replace its old site, Kijiji, in the United States.[12]
