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HEARD ON THE BEAT / Buzz from the Business World

By KAREN KAPLAN, technology reporter
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EBay Kicks Out EarthLink: Online auction house EBay has apparently become so popular that EarthLink Network this week used it to sell its Internet access service. But EBay wasn’t flattered. Instead, it kicked the EarthLink offer off its Web site.

A spokesman for EBay in San Jose said the offer was removed Thursday because it violated the company’s auction rules and was really just a glorified advertisement.

Pasadena-based EarthLink had proudly touted its EBay offer as part of a new “guerrilla marketing campaign” to raid customers from rival Internet service providers such as Netcom and Prodigy. Before the offer was removed, EBay shoppers could click on a link and be transferred to EarthLink’s site.

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EBay removed one auction item and EarthLink removed the rest. An EarthLink spokeswoman said the items were taken down because they were more like “classified ads” than a “Dutch auction.” But she said new EarthLink offers would be posted on EBay soon.

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Karen Kaplan

Karen Kaplan covers science and medical research for the Los Angeles Times. She has been a member of the science team since 2005, including 13 years as an editor. Her first decade at The Times was spent covering technology in the Business section as both a reporter and editor. She grew up in San Diego and is a graduate of MIT and Columbia University.

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