|
Taobao to Move Ad Service In-House, Alipay Issues New Service Fee
Alibaba Group's consumer-focused e-commerce site Taobao.com plans to stop signing new clients for its advertising bid ranking service and accepting transfers from existing agents to Taobao accounts on January 1, 2009, reports Sina quoting a notice Taobao sent to related China Yahoo ad agencies. Taobao will terminate all related contracts with China Yahoo agents in the first half of 2009, said a Taobao public relations department employee. Clients will be refunded any money remaining in their accounts after June 2009, said the notice. Bid ranking makes up less than 10% of Taobao's total business, and Taobao does not plan to set up an agency system for its ad bid ranking service in the future, said the report.
Alibaba Group's online payment tool Alipay announced on December 25 that it will begin charging 1.5% service fee next year for Alipay users whose free transaction volume exceeds a fixed amount, reports Yangzi Evening News. The amount was set at RMB 5,000 per month for certified Alipay users and a total of RMB 500 for uncertified users. The measure applies only to Alipay site transactions - Taobao, Alibaba.com and partners are exempt - and will affect only 0.01% of Alipay users, said an Alipay public relations department chief. The fee is aimed at countering a scam in which users withdraw cash from Alipay account-linked credit cards with fake transactions, said unnamed industry insiders.
|
