Monster announces deal with EBay: Whatís next in this relationship?

It could be a great way to reach passive job-seekers -all those hundreds of thousands of people hunched over their computers selling ìstuffî instead of going to the office or factory each day. But could it also be the start of a much larger relationship?

Monster and EBay announced a ìstrategic marketing agreementî today. On the surface, it doesnít look like too much - Monster will get a ìpresenceî on the EBay home page, and will be a ìtitle sponsorî of the EBay Live conference - but it could be a lot more.

For a while, weíve been speculating on ìWho will buy Monster?î We believe firmly that it wonít be an independent company in a few years. And EBayís one of the three dot-coms we see as a potential buyer. It would be a logical fit. Meg Whitman of EBay will have to deal with slowing growth in a few years, and will be looking for a way to keep investors happy. And she already has a huge cash pot. Monster Worldwide chairman and majority-voting investor Andy McKelvey is getting closer to the age where heíd probably put a few billion in the bank and relax, rather than slug it out in the increasingly complex worlds of recruitment and advertising agencies. Find McKelvey the right economic and business peak -which is likely in 2005 or 2006 -and he may bail out for the right offer.

ìWe are excited about the business prospects associated with this deal,î Monster founder Jeff Taylor was quoted in this morningís news release. ìEBay offers Monster a tremendous opportunity to reach a growing segment of the business world -small-business owners. Hiring qualified employees is crucial to growing a business. Monster can help small businesses on EBay do this efficiently and cost-effectively.î

Yeah -but. Are those small businesses looking for employees? We doubt it. But are the millions of EBay users interested in jobs for themselves? Much more likely. Newspapers have the brilliant ìTop Jobsî product for placing job ads in front of people who arenít looking for a job, while they are reading editorial content. EBay and Monster could develop the capability --- since EBay buyers and sellers are identified by location --- to place local jobs in front of potential passive job-seekers through a similar program.

Initially, Monster will have four benefits from the deal:

-Presence on the EBay home page

-Banners throughout EBay

-Participation in the EBay Live conference --- a great public forum

-Sponsorship of EBay University, a roving educational program that reaches hundreds (maybe thousands) of people each year.

Terms were not disclosed - but weíre betting the deal didnít come cheap. Friends tell us EBay isnít big on pay-for-performance deals, and doesnít much like to clutter up its home page with anything that it isnít selling (and thus getting paid for). So we suspect itís a cash deal, with a significant commitment.

It could all be moot if EBay decides thereís a good technology and ìcommunityî fit with Monster, and decides to buy Monster Worldwide outright.

Or, Barry Diller and his InterActiveCorp - already owner of RealEstate.com, Match.com, Expedia.com and a host of other interactive-media businesses --- could take this as a sign to get in and bid early for Monster Worldwide, before Meg snaps it up.

More about this - and the surge in traffic numbers at CareerBuilder.com as a result of its new relationships with AOL and MSN --- in next weekís edition of Classified Intelligence Report.



Peter M. Zollman
info@classifiedintelligence.com.