Corrigon Ltd. Purchased by eBay, Out to Build Its AI Systems

While eBay is already known as a great place to pick up just about anything, and even as a great shopping destination thanks to earlier promotional efforts, eBay wants to be an even better shopping point for users, a development it’s working on in earnest thanks to its acquisition of Corrigon Ltd., a company known for its visual search systems.

Reports suggest that eBay picked up Corrigon as part of a larger overall operation; while the prices weren’t disclosed on what eBay paid for it, this is reportedly the third time an artificial intelligence (AI) company found its way into eBay’s shopping cart since 2016 dawned, meaning the company is clearly out to make itself a major figure in AI.

Previously, eBay picked up Expertmaker, a Swedish firm that can analyze data via AI and machine learning tools, and SalesPredict, an Israeli firm that predicts shopping habits by using the customer’s shopping data from earlier excursions.

Corrigon’s claim to fame is the ability to identify elements of an image and then match these to assorted elements, both visual and text-based. This makes it easier to present products in a marketplace as images yet still make them searchable.

So, when we combine the three, we’ve got two analytics firms, one that works by previous shopping experiences and one that works on AI and machine learning. Now, we have an offering that can search based on visual elements as well as text-based. We have effectively a way to generate data, a way to gather it together for analysis, and a way to analyze it, suggesting that eBay is looking for an impressive analytical engine to work with.

Already, eBay is rich with fodder for purchase; everything from DVDs to raw emeralds can be had on the site, so being able to better figure out what will sell well and what will draw customers would make eBay much improved. A conclusive listing of what’s selling big would likely draw more sellers in those fields, which means more for users to buy. That makes the service more valuable for its shoppers as well, who have more choices.

This latest purchase should be worthwhile for eBay in the end, as it improves its services with a little extra analytics capability. A better eBay is better for its buyers, and its sellers.