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Almost every imaginable product is available through eBay, but TV and radio ads will no longer appear on any list.  The company has closed its Media Marketplace program.

"We have ended our pilot program in this market," states what's left of the official site.  Anyone interested in radio advertising is advised to deal with Bid4Spots, and that's about the extent of what might be called an official explanation.

 eBay Media Marketplace At Its End

Luckily, Steve McClellan reports, "The Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, a trade group representing the sales groups of most of the big cable networks, did not endorse the system and few of its members participated.  Among the few networks that tested it were Oxygen and Ion."

So it seems a lack of partnerships is the main culprit behind Media Marketplace's death, although the economy may have been behind companies' hesitancy.  Conditions don't seem ready to improve in the near future, so it was probably wise of eBay not to wait any longer before shutting things down.

Still, the experiment as a whole represents yet another bad bet, so investors might grow less confident.  Also, given the way conversations about eBay's policies tend to run around here, we should note that this'll give critics of the auction site a little something to celebrate.