eBay has introduced a new Google Friend Connect gadget called eBay Social Shopping, which lets publishers add "social shopping" to their sites. It lets users browse eBay right from the gadget on the site "almost" as if they were on eBay itself.

We wondered how eBay sellers might be able to use this to their own advantage, and asked eBay about it. "This is an alpha version and mainly intended for publishers (blogger etc.)," eBay’s Farhang Kassaei tells WebProNews. "Having said that, sellers can restrict the items shown in the gadget to only their own items. Further, they can choose to only display content of certain categories (if they sell in more than one category) – these functions are not turned on in the alpha version."

Kassaei says more filtering options will be available.

Users can view item details, watch items within auctions or buy-it-now listings, and if they’re also eBay users, they can link their eBay account to their Google Friend Connect (GFC) account, which will let them monitor their eBay watch list , receive personalized recommendations, bid, and buy from the gadget.

The gadget lets publishers customize eBay recommendations and listings to suit the content of their sites.

Kassaei says eBay is monitoring the adoption of the gadget, and will provide monetization opportunities in a later version through the eBay partner network if that’s what people ask for.