Amazon Holiday Traffic Winner

Nielsen Online has declared Amazon the pageview winner for the holiday season, reports the New York Times. Amazon had 59,624,000 views to eBay’s 59,374,000, a slim margin, but a big turnaround on previous years. Brad Stone cites consumer concerns over fraud and counterfeit as possible explanations for eBay’s slump, which amounted to 10% less than last year.

Amazon traffic jumped 18% from Dec. ’07 to Dec. ’08, possibly due to improved selection and the introduction of digital music and video download services.  Customer service is another perceived difference, with the Times lauding Amazon’s. Ebay releases its quarterly earnings next week. (More Amazon.com stories.)