all over eBays ‘User generated content‘ woes.

Key content from this post:

What’s Changing on eBay: In the short-term, we’re moving listing descriptions to a different domain. Descriptions will be displayed by using an iFrame within the View Item page. Our intent is to ensure that user-generated content won’t have access to eBay site content. We’re currently piloting this in US Motors, and we’ll be releasing this change in the US and internationally later this summer.

iFrame? IFRAME!!!!? Classic iFrame injections spring to mind.

and….

The idea is to create a small program to allow developers to offer great functionality for users, using Flash, JavaScript, and other rich Internet technologies. The difference is that you won’t directly include code in listing descriptions. Instead, listing descriptions would include a set of tags that load rich content using vetted widgets and initialize them with parameters that you specify.

I kind of like tags, I feel this will open up the world of eBay design a little, and cut the rubbish when it comes to eBay compliance, which in all fairness is hit and miss. This will undoubtedly mean intense development time for eBay designers, but I am waiting for the open source eBay widget library. Go on eBay you know you want too!