<s>
The	O
eBay	B-Application
API	I-Application
is	O
an	O
Application	B-Application
Programming	I-Application
Interface	I-Application
for	O
interacting	O
directly	O
with	O
the	O
eBay	B-Application
database	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
communication	O
occurs	O
over	O
the	O
Internet	O
in	O
the	O
XML	B-Protocol
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
the	O
API	B-Application
,	O
an	O
application	O
can	O
provide	O
a	O
custom	O
interface	O
,	O
functionality	O
or	O
specialized	O
operations	O
not	O
otherwise	O
afforded	O
by	O
the	O
eBay	B-Application
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
API	B-Application
does	O
not	O
depend	O
upon	O
the	O
eBay	B-Application
User	O
Interface	O
,	O
this	O
makes	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
create	O
stable	O
,	O
custom	O
functionality	O
and	O
interfaces	O
that	O
meet	O
business	O
needs	O
.	O
</s>
