In a sign of the times, mega web auction site Ebay.com has seen what could be called a massive decline in visitor traffic.

The Biggest Online Winners And Losers For 2009: EBay Traffic Collapse:

Some of the largest websites in the country had extraordinary swings in their audiences in 2009. Many of the most well-known web destinations lost large portions of their traffic

Based on data from Hitwise comparing US traffic market share from January to figures from November Ebay (NASDAQ:EBAY) lost 37% of its visitors. Craigslist lost 43% of its traffic, making it the largest loser among the top 25 sites. Neither number is surprising. Ebay’s earnings have been lackluster. Classified postings for apartments and jobs at Craigslist may have been hurt by the recession.

In addition to declines on the main ebay.com web site, Ebay Motors, the car sales wing of the online giant, saw a decline of 43% over 2008. Paypal, which is closely tied to Ebay.com, but also allows merchants from other web sites to process online retail transactions,  lost only 23% of their traffic.

Though some online retailers and auction sites are losing traffic, some notable gains were experienced by other well known names:

Amazon.com                    +26%

Walmart.com                    +64%

Target.com                      +69%

Bestbuy.com                     +23%

Three of the four online web sites above also have brick and mortar stores throughout the country. It is still unclear whether or not these retailers lost foot traffic, which may have been made up in online traffic increases.

The data provided does not disclose online sales figures, so while traffic is up, it is unknown how much of that traffic converted to purchases.

We should find out more in January/February of 2010 as most retailers release their 4th Quarter 2009 sales numbers.