eBay Advertising today announces it will expand its Travel category to deliver increased value and selection to eBay’s 17 million users, across a range of travel products and services.

___________________

The strategic partnership with Octopus Travel will see eBay deliver new benefits to the millions of people who visit eBay every day, through a co-branded store that offers over 50,000 hotel room listings from independent hotels to global chains, with auction-style listings from £0.99, ‘buy it now’ deals, hotel upgrades and special offers.

The Octopus Travel store will be promoted to the millions of people who visit the eBay marketplace every day, through a combination of paid search and targeted advertising across the eBay network.

To mark the partnership, eBay is launching with a special charity auction in aid of youth charity, The Prince’s Trust.

Until the end of January visitors to eBay.co.uk will be able to bid on over thirty Presidential Suites throughout the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts global hotel network with listings starting at just 99p.

Gareth Gaston, Managing Director of Octopus Travel, comments:

“As the leading online marketplace, eBay was the perfect choice in helping us reach consumers who are actively looking for hotel options. We’re delighted to be working with eBay to deliver choice, selection and value to eBay’s millions of users”.

Phillip Rinn, Director of Advertising Partnerships for eBay in the UK and EMEA, said:

“We see massive growth potential in the travel sector online, which is why we’re investing in our network to offer brands like Octopus Travel the opportunity to engage with e-buying consumers in a very targeted and relevant way. We’re excited to be partnering with Octopus Travel to deliver benefits to our users and we look forward to the further expansion of our travel category throughout 2010 and beyond”. With more than 17 million unique users and 3.3 billion total page views per month in the UK alone, plus millions more across Europe, eBay offers brand advertisers the powerful combination of reach and deep targeting of purchase-minded consumers on the web.