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Marketwatch has done an excellent job of analyzing the recent partnerships between eBay, Yahoo and Google. It’s well worth a read.

Shares of eBay rose 2% Monday, partly because eBay would be monetizing the search traffic internationally. Additionally, Google will help distribute Skype, the voice over Internet technology eBay paid $2.6 billion (upwards of $4 billion) last year. Skype will also distribute Google’s toolbar, a deal that will likely give Skype future payment for searches conducted on that search toolbar. All this is positive for eBay’s shares.

But clearly, the fact that eBay had to partner with Google to distribute Skype says something very negative about eBay’s own community and ability to distribute Skype. But I won’t get into that here.

Further thoughts:

Indeed, Google and Yahoo advertisements aren’t designed to keep buyers on eBay’s marketplace. They’re designed to send the audience out onto the Web. Driving buyers away from the marketplace wouldn’t help sellers at all. And, those sponsored ads become a reminder to sellers that they too need to find other ways to sell their wares.

Businessweek is reporting that eBay and Google have signed a deal that will allow Google to serve up ads on all of eBay’s international sites. These ads will come with a “click-to-call” button for easy access to the seller.

Under the partnership, Google would become the exclusive provider of text advertising on eBay outside the United States. In May, eBay announced a deal with the No. 2 Internet search engine, Yahoo Inc., to serve all its domestic advertising.

The second component of the alliance calls for the two Silicon Valley companies to work together on developing a service that lets Web surfers place telephone calls through their computers or handheld devices when they click on a link in an Internet ad.

It’s interesting to see how eBay is working so closely with both Yahoo and Google. They’re natural enemies, so it’s a fine line between giants that eBay walks here.

(hat tip GoogleSystem blog)

Bill Cobb, President of eBay North America, has a couple things to say about the following:

• eBay’s size (200 million!)
• Skype integration
• PayPal
• eBay blogs
• eBay wiki
• New Trust & Safety Policy
• Crack down on Excessive Shipping
• Cross-Border Trade – A Privilege, Not a Right
• Grand Opening for eBay Express

You can read the full report here.