Online auction firm eBay joined the customization trend by launching "About Me," a utility designed for creating personal homepages.

Users can customize a homepage for free. The page can include personal information, items listed for auction, eBay feedback ratings, images, and links to other favorite sites. eBay reported that almost 7,000 registered users have already created homepages using this new feature.

"'About Me' allows our community members to further personalize their eBay experience," said Steve Westly, eBay vice president of marketing and business development. "The increased user information enables people to find out more about the people they're trading with and to more easily find people who share their interests."

The company said it is offering the personal start page as a way to promote its online community. Other community sites such as Netscape Netcenter, Excite, and Lycos all have also promoted customizable homepages recently.