Is New Promoted Listings Ad Attribution Rolling Out To US With No Notice?
I posted a bit of this on the other thread about attribution changes for UK, Australia, France, Italy, and Spain but digging into more I think it deserves its own thread.
Several sellers are noticing subtle changes in wording on help pages and PL General ad campaign setup pages that suggest the new attribution is coming to the US soon - if not here already.
In November 2024, the General campaign setup page said: "An ad rate is the percentage of your item's total sale amount that is charged when a buyer clicks your general ad and purchases any of your promoted listings with 30 days."
Today, June 11, 2025, that same section says: "The ad rate is the percentage of an item’s total sale amount (including item price, shipping, taxes, and any other applicable fees) that is charged when the promoted item sells within 30 days of a click on your ad."
It also looks like they changed this page in Seller Center to say you'll pay ad fees when "your item sells after a click on your ad" vs "when your item sells through a click on your ad."
The change happened sometime between Feb 21 - March 4, which would be in line with when the new attribution model rolled out in Germany, but this is on the main US . com site.
https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/growth/ebay-advertising/promoted-listings
There are also similar changes on this help page from around the same time:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/promoted-listings?id=4164#section2
At the very least I would say the fact they changed the wording on the US site indicates they do plan to expand the new attribution model here eventually, but some sellers are concerned it may already be here, possibly in a stealth and/or phased rollout - and they're also understandably wondering if last week's back charging of months old ads could be related.
Is anyone seeing any other changes either in help/policy pages or a sudden significant increase in sales being attributed to ads with no other changes made that might indicate these changes are applying for US sellers too?
@devon@ebay @kyle@ebay @elizabeth@ebay - since these updates make it obvious that the plan is to bring the new attribution model to the US eventually, can you please get a specific timeframe from the ads team of when that will be happening?
valueaddedresource
OP10 months agoIt's official, the Promoted Listings General ad attribution changes rolled out to UK, EU, and Australia earlier this year are coming to US and Canada January 13, 2026.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Promoted-Listings-General-Attribution-Changes-Coming-To-US-amp/m-p/35329055/highlight/true#M2628543
valueaddedresource
OP1 year agoThe results are disappointingly not at all surprising, but for those following along - sellers in the UK community are starting to share what they are seeing since the attribution change went into effect yesterday.
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Business-Seller-Board/Promoted-Listings-Changes-You-Must-Be-Joking-eBay/m-p/7878033#M335218
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Member-To-Member-Support/eBay-Advertising-attribution-seems-like-a-total-scam/m-p/7879146#M299653
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@fbusoni they fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous of which is 'never get involved in a land war in Asia', but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never trust what an eBay employee says when ad revenue is on the line!' 😂
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·1 year ago"attribute" eBay, you keep saying that word. I do not think that word means what you think it means.
fbusoni
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
seriously, I sometimes wonder if it’s the comic nature of this wretched platform that keeps me selling here.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year agoLooks like someone from eBay must have already reached out to clear up the confusion.
jasoheat_0
·1 year agothanks ebay for lettting us now .... OPPS i mean youtube guy as ebay seems to careless what we know , and understand , yep ill be canceling all my promoted , as this appears to be more of a fee if you promotes even if the sale is organic , no thank you
fbusoni
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
“….Some sort of misunderstanding or miscommunication about what was actually saidâ€
eBay, stop, you’re killing me!!!
😂😂😂😂
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@devon@ebay I understand that you don't have any info you can provide for the US market at this time, but can you please check with the proper team to confirm for the markets where it has already been announced, does Halo attribution still apply under the new attribution model?
For example, if Item A and Item B are both in the same Promoted Listings General campaign, a buyer clicks on an ad for Item A but does not purchase it, then comes back within 30 days, finds Item B through an organic placement and purchases it - will the seller pay an ad fee on the sale of item B under the new model?
If not and the new policy gets rid of Halo attribution completely, I'd highly recommend having someone from the Australia team reach out to those YouTubers I posted above and/or for the ads team to actually put out educational materials about this for all affected markets, written in plain language rather than marketing speak, because clearly there is still a lot of confusion and (I believe) incorrect information floating around.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoIf they get rid of halo attribution completely, that is really good news for those of us that know how to game the system and are willing to do it. I'd think that the main reason they went to halo attribution was because of some sellers heavily promoting one item to get potential buyers to their stores, then getting sales on items not promoted. That's what I would do - increase the price on one item per category by 10x, promote at 90% and scream "come to my store for deals."
I don't see it happening, though - I think that they understand the bad behavior that it would cause. We've seen that bad behavior before - increasing shipping costs to avoid selling fees, more recently increasing shipping fees to avoid PL fees, listing in the incorrect category to get a lower fee, etc.. eBay gets better and better at preventing this bad behavior, whether by changing their policies of by better policing of listings.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@powell-collectibles there's no if about it, the written policy page clearly said from the day of the announcement that there will be no Halo attribution under the new model for the markets/sites where that new model is/will be in effect.
The confusion about that was only introduced because some sellers in Australia said they were told something different by eBay staff at an in-person event, but they have since issued a correction & clarified that was a misunderstanding so....until/unless eBay puts something different in writing, I think it's safe to say that there will be no Halo attribution under the new model for sales made on sites that have that new model applied.
Unavailable member
·1 year agoInteresting - thanks.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year agoNow a couple of YouTubers from Australia are saying they've been told directly by eBay staff at an in person event that the new attribution model will also still include what sounds like some version of Halo attribution.
Here's what they said:
"So this is the part that hasn't been communicated across… and this came direct from eBay marketing so this is from eBay marketing telling us this information telling everyone that was in that room about how this is going to work…so this is new news and this is something that I clarified three or four times because I wasn't aware of this before we went to Retail Fest…
So let's do a little bit of an example here let's say you as a as a buyer come into my store through a promoted listing look at this item here and then you're like I don't want that item put it back on the shelf essentially and someone else within that 30-day period comes back to my store and buys this item as the attribution has just said this item will then incur that promoted listing fee.
Now the next step of that is and this is where things get a little bit funky if I have this Adelaide Crows hat or any other hat or any other item in that same campaign like a lot of us do we'll promote you know 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 listings in the same campaign that will also trigger this item here to incur a promoted listing fee when this item sells as long as it's within 30 days of another item being triggered within that particular campaign this item will also be triggered on this new change.
… essentially as soon as one item in your campaign is triggered under a promoted listing due to this new attribution every item in that campaign will then be active as a promoted listing fee for the next 30 days."
Now I'm 99.99999% certain that is not true and there has simply been some confusion or miscommunication here - the new policy clearly says that Halo & Direct attribution will be going away once the new model is effective and that under that new model it is only a click on an ad for an item = ad fee assessed on the sale of that same item within 30 days (as long as it is still in an ad campaign), not on any other item.
Also, I've spoken to multiple sellers in Germany who already have this new attribution model in effect and none of them have seen anything indicating there is still a "halo" effect where a click on an ad for one item will result in being charged an ad fee on a different item.
And if the attribution policy page wasn't clear enough, the eBay Ads blog says this:
https://www.ebayadvertising.com/en-au/2025/05/22/seller-announcement-updates-to-ebays-promoted-listings-program-are-coming-soon/
"What will happen to Direct attribution and Halo item attribution for general campaigns?
Items listed on eBay.co.uk, eBay.fr, eBay.it, eBay.es, eBay.com.au and eBay.de and promoted using a general campaign strategy will no longer use Direct attribution and Halo item attribution when sales are reported or ad fees are charged. Direct and Halo item attribution will continue to exist for items that are listed and promoted with a general campaign strategy outside of eBay.co.uk, eBay.fr, eBay.it, eBay.es, eBay.com.au and eBay.de, for example on eBay.com or eBay.ca. "
I commented on their video to provide that information but they were very adamant that eBay staff directly told them otherwise in person, though there is nothing in writing. 🤷†And now the information in their video (which I still believe is not correct) is being picked up and making its way further around the internet.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@jasoheat_0 point of interest - Jamie Iannone was an eBay guy long before he was a Walmart guy.
https://investors.ebayinc.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2020/eBay-Inc-Names-Jamie-Iannone-Chief-Executive-Officer/default.aspx
" He also spent nearly eight years at eBay as a Vice President and in other roles leading several areas of the Company, including its global search, buyer experience and tailored shopping experience divisions. "
jasoheat_0
·1 year agointeresting , especially in my opinion doesnt look like hes learned a thing expect these days to run off customers and drive down GMV , and treat sellers like C*** like walmart vendors .. worst choice for ceo ... no real growth in years except ad fees ...
jda2002
·1 year agoIf this change happens I will stop promoting any listings. This upcoming policy feels like outright theft.
I'm happy to pay a fee if a promoted listing draws a person in who then buys it. I'm NOT happy to pay for a random click from someone who never bought the item!
jasoheat_0
·1 year agoebay 's desperation as there has been no real growth for years , so ad fees now just become another fee , oh well luckily i have diversified and sell much more elsewhere , iwll be canceling all my promoted listing's
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoif people would look at this rationally, they would understand the eBay was destined to have growth. Plenty of new competitors – who didn’t think that some of the market share that eBay had would be gained by these other entrants?
The same people that complain about a lack of growth in their own stores, with their own items, understand that things are difficult. They don’t understand that it is also difficult for eBay to gain share and grow? Come on folks.
That you are able to sell on plenty of other sites, and make some money, is exactly why it is difficult for eBay to grow your store on eBay.
jasoheat_0
·1 year agoexcuses ... so they havent run off customers ( by the millions ) ? or lose how much of GMV since 2013 ... there mistakes gave there competitor's the opportunity , you cant fix anything if your not honest with your self ... again the only real growth at ebay is what ads i mean manipulated search engine ... as there search engine has gone to H*** since there hold ad program started .. sorry completely disagree ebay is the problem ( well its leaders ) no real growth since hes been here except selling costs , sorry not praising anyone like that , and they way they are constantly trying to get more ad fees , shows there desperation, for the ceo as his stock options rely on growth and thats all he real has ... again no real growth for the sellers in years , just selling fees , fewer sellers , fewer customers lower GMV ... but hey selling fees are through the roof since 2013
the-hook-and-the-loop
·1 year agoeBay, still chasing that ad % from sellers, while sales decline. The PL T&C are way too complex.
jasoheat_0
·1 year agoagain the only REAL growth has been in Ad fees ( since this CEO took over )... so sad , no other real growth , how long has this CEO been here , how many customers have left , how far has GMV fallen ... but hey more ad fees are coming our way ...
gurlcat
·1 year ago" At this time I do not have any information that can be shared."
^ That's information right there. If they intend to give us 30 days notice they would allow him to relay that assurance to us.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoMy interpretation is different on the 30 days part.
I think it's coming, but he can't confirm before it's announced, and if he confirmed a 30 day notice that would be seen as the same as confirming the process is changing, so instead eBay's saying nothing until it's announced.
I still think we'll get 30 days notice, same as other regions. Would be nice if at least few days buffer is included though, so sellers have some time to make adjustments.
P.S. I'm basing my opinion on the fact all other regions already got a 30 day notice, not on a general confidence in eBay. 😆
gurlcat
·1 year agoEDIT; never mind, I thought I remembered you were the one who asked him about the 30 day notice but it must've been someone else.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoIt was me that asked about the 30 days, but I honestly didn't expect an answer. I just figured if they could speak to anything, that would be our best shot at getting a nugget of info. Since eBay would probably see answering that as confirming the change is coming, I didn't think they would answer the question.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·1 year ago@wastingtime101 @devon@ebay
@devon@ebay I understand you cannot confirm that this major policy change is coming to the USA site.
Can you confirm that it IS still ebay's policy to give sellers 30 day notice of ANY policy changes of this magnitude?
To be clear, my question is NOT about the ads policy. It is about ebay's notification Policy only.
pidgeun1
·1 year agoGot it. I got confused with your unrelated post about monthly budget pacing for priority campaign in this thread and also the no response on the back charging of PL fees. Thanks for clarifying!
pidgeun1
·1 year agoIs @devon@ebay a bot or actual person? Does anyone know?
devon@ebay
@pidgeun1 I am an actual real person! Feel free to ask many of the members that I work with everyday!
wastingtime101
·1 year agoWelcome to the club @devon@ebay . People around here often say I'm an AI bot. 🤖
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year ago@wastingtime101 I've been accused of that too.
dhbookds
·1 year ago@devon@ebay lol...........then can you answer the original question? Certainly sounded like an nonsensical Al answer.......
devon@ebay
Hey @dhbookds! At this time I do not have any information that can be shared. Once there is I will be sure to let yourself and others know.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoIt's getting real complicated in 'promoting' these days.
Getting 'repeat buyers' is what makes me keep going.
Figuring out ways to obtain 'repeat buyers' is what I have been doing without promoting any new items for sale.
devon@ebay
Hey @valueaddedresource! To learn more about monthly budget pacing for priority campaigns please click the link below:
https://www.ebayadvertising.com/en/2025/05/30/seller-announcement-introducing-monthly-budget-pacing-for-priority-campaigns/
wastingtime101
·1 year agoThis discussion is about General campaigns @devon@ebay , not Priority. Sellers here are wondering if the changes launching on international sites (link for reference - see the "starting June 24" text) will be coming to the US.
While I'm sure you cannot speak to anything that has not yet been announced, there is a question you may be able to answer which is:
If these changes happening overseas eventually come to the US, will sellers in the US get a 30 day warning like international sellers did?
Edit to add some context, so you don't have to read this whole discussion: some sellers are very worried eBay will roll out this change without announcing it, or roll it out with less than 30 days notice so there is no time to update their listings before the financial impact hits. It would help alleviate those concerns if sellers knew they'd have a 30 day (minimum) heads up if this change eventually hits the US.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year agoThanks @devon@ebay but this discussion has absolutely nothing to do with Priority cost per click campaigns in any way, shape or form, let alone monthly budget pacing for them.
Those screenshots were about General cost per sale campaign ad attribution and when the new attribution model that is currently live in Germany and soon to be live in UK, Australia, France, Italy, and Spain will be coming to the US as several .com US policy and help pages have already been changed with new language that would reflect that new attribution model.
dhbookds
·1 year agoI won't be surprised if there's a July Seller News that brings down the hammer.
@wastingtime101
@valueaddedresource
That would make for a VERY interesting Ebay Live.......in Aug.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@dhbookds agreed! Honestly if I was a gambler, my money would have been on them holding off dropping the news until after eBay Open for that very reason - I cannot imagine anyone at eBay wanting to face that heat in person. 😂
And for all we know, that may still happen. It could be that these changes to the policy and help pages were made well in advance hoping no one would really notice and/or that the changes were vague enough not to raise a fuss prematurely.
Back when they announced it for UK etc, my first thought was that if eBay waits until just after Open in August, that would still give time for 30 day notice and an effective date sometime at the tail end of Q3 in order to have it locked in for Q4 holiday sales.
I still think that's probably a likely scenario but it's also entirely possible they could pull the trigger earlier, especially if they are feeling pressure to try to goose 3Q ad rev more.
gurlcat
·1 year agoIf it wouldn't be too cumbersome for you to find, could you provide the link to your post about the change for Germany? -That was the first one, right? I'd like to review that thread.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@gurlcat here you go:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/eBay-Advertising/Major-Changes-To-Promoted-Listings-Ad-Attribution-In-Germany/m-p/34898661#M263
pls-consignments
·1 year agoThere are just so many questions about this that need to be answered.
Both @valueaddedresource and @wastingtime101 bring up valid concerns, especially non-abusive ad fees from other sellers using Google Lens or sell-similar. I can only imagine how this might play out in a few months or so.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoI really don't think Google Lens links to sponsored ads. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@wastingtime101 I agree, I don't think Google Lens per se specifically links to sponsored ads.
If you use Offsite Ads (which is not what we are talking about in this thread) or your Promoted Listings General Campaigns are eligible for external placements (most still are by default as far as I know) then just about any method of Google searching (including Lens) could potentially lead to a Google shopping result or link that may be a sponsored ad but that's not something specific to Lens.
pls-consignments
·1 year agoLet me clarify, I use Google Lens like other sellers as an access point to sell-similar by adding the word "eBay" in the search field as a 2nd step query.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@pls-consignments ah, gotcha. In theory that still shouldn't be an issue unless the link you click through from there just happens to be an external PL placement.
This new model still requires a click on a sponsored ad to happen at some point - it just decouples that click from the eventual sale, if that makes sense.
So you navigating to another sellers' listing to sell-similar will only count as an ad attributable click against that seller if you got there either through a sponsored placement in onsite eBay search, a sponsored placement on another eBay listing, or an external sponsored ad placement.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource My wager would have been on waiting until after Open, but this change to the wording PLUS the incredibly heavy emphasis on pushing ads to sellers ...well, I'm inclined to think ebay might pull the trigger sooner. ebay's stock has been doing very, very well, and if Q2 and Q3 numbers suggest the stock price is inflated, that could result in a steep drop. So, I'm thinking they really want to goose those numbers, and Heaven knows, unless the result of this is that sellers collectively engage in a massive ad pullback, this will result in a nice revenue increase (for ebay)
I will probably be a lot more selective in which items go into a campaign, and will likely stagger items. Keep in mind that , in order for the fee to apply, the sold item must be IN a campaign when actually bought.
pls-consignments
·1 year agoJust curious, what prevents sellers from abusing this on their competition?
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@pls-consignments the short answer is - nothing.
eBay says they have systems in place to detect and mitigate click fraud/malicious clicks, but I'm not convinced how effective they are or if in fact they really do exist.
But honestly, I think the bigger problem is the non-malicious but still no intent to buy clicks - like from sellers doing product research or looking for a similar item to do "sell one like this" from or some accidentally clicking an ad while scrolling down a view item page or search result.
I believe those kind of clicks happen far more often than malicious ones and will cause sellers to incur far more ad fees under this new model - and even if eBay does have systems to catch abusive/fraudulent clicks, that won't help with those non-malicious clicks.
wastingtime101
·1 year agohaha I could have saved the time on that one since Liz said the same exact thing at the same exact time.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoIf this change happens I think sellers need to operate under the assumption the ad fee will apply to all of their sales for promoted items, and any transaction that does not result in an ad fee is a bonus.
While eBay may or may not implement measures to detect abuse, there's only so much they can do on that front (if they choose to do it).
Even outside of abuse there will be honest product research caught up in the mix - sellers looking at other sellers' listings to see how they listed or to use 'sell similar' as a shortcut. If those sellers click on the first search result, which is always an ad, the fee's going to be charged to the other seller if their item sells within 30 days.
Based on the sheer volume of sellers that copy my listing titles/descriptions/specifics/photos, I could never afford it. I don't have room in my margins to pay an ad fee on every transaction and I don't want to apply significant price increases across the board. But hey, if my competition raises their prices to pay for ads, then maybe my non-promoted listings will rise in organic placement if priced lower. One can hope my competition isn't dumb enough to go along with this without raising their prices to cover it.
kickin.assets
·1 year ago@wastingtime101
Can completely see eBay not giving us any notice due to many changes they’ve made in the past without as much as a peep. If they just slowly roll out as they have other things, who makes money? Ebay.
Imagine reading these boards alone and seeing how many people have stated they’d just stop promoting items if/when this rolls out. Ebay isn’t stupid. They give us 30 day notice, or any really, how many people will just stop promoting? How much money will eBay lose by being upfront? We’re not getting any notice.
All of this is just speculation on my end. Maybe they’ve started rolling it out, maybe they haven’t. Maybe they’ll give us notice, but my “guess†is no and that it’s already started. Last Friday to be exact.
I absolutely love selling on ebay, but I no longer trust them like I did years ago.
wastingtime101
·1 year ago@kickin.assets I hear ya, but this is too big of a financial impact, not to mention the optics if they gave all other regions 30 days notice but not the US? I don't see this particular change happening without notice.
@gurlcat Have you seriously never used the Internet Archive before? Get it together, Norm. 😉
https://web.archive.org/
gurlcat
·1 year agoYes. Seriously. Why would I have? Or anything else I have literally never heard of?
wastingtime101
·1 year agoYou know I was kidding. I am legit surprised you've never heard of it though.
gurlcat
·1 year agoI don't know why you'd be surprised; I have talked about my technological ineptitude about a half-bazillion times. And I've been going through a whole spectrum of sh!tty stuff but trying to maintain a stiff upper lip about it. I'm sorry I overreacted.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@gurlcat then I present to you a new toy to play with 😂
https://help.archive.org/help/using-the-wayback-machine/
It's a tool that allows you to save most publicly available things on the internet, so you can have a record of what a specific page looked like at specific time - super helpful for all kinds of research activities but also for fun stuff like seeing what the home page of a site might have looked liked around Y2K lol - oh and sometimes helpful for bypassing paywalled content too.
If you create an account you can even save things in your own personal collections to reference at a later date - including things like internet forum posts that you might want to save in case they ever get deleted or edited/moderated. 😉
gurlcat
·1 year agoThank you but just when I figure out how to use it they'd change the whole thing and make it unrecognizable, like Google Earth did just when I was really starting to enjoy it and use it for important things.
I feel bad for having hijacked this thread, I'm truly sorry. Going to try to get some sleep now.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoSorry you're having a rough go of it @gurlcat , didn't mean to pile on with my kidding around.
For what it's worth, the Wayback Machine / Internet Archive hasn't changed in 25 years. 😆 It's so very old school internet. Kind of nostalgic, really.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@gurlcat no worries - you didn't hijack the thread.
I'm always happy to explain where I'm getting info from and I have a self interest in teaching others about the Internet Archive because if they use it, that makes it more likely there might be more archives of any given page saved if I ever need it for something - like these PL ad policy and help pages. 😂
And FWIW, I've been using it for over a decade and honestly...very little has changed lol
jasoheat_0
·1 year agothis all started with this newer CEO , he is the one that decided not to let sellers know about changes ... he thinks we are Walmart vendors ( his old company ) and they treat the sellers like C***
selsa84
·1 year agoQue the click bots.
kickin.assets
·1 year ago@selsa84
My thoughts exactly! Just a bunch of 🤬🤬🤬
mcdougle4248
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
I am just wondering about all the Social media shares I do. If the listing is in a PL general campaign when I share it from the Social page, and gets a click, then from that point forward it is a sure PL fee when it sells to any buyer.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@mcdougle4248 that's a fair concern and unfortunately kind of a gray area right now.
Another post from the UK boards caught my eye on this because they said that they noticed the share option on item pages now uses a link shortener which creates an eBay.us link (even for UK listings) which when clicked basically redirects to the listing but with tracking attributes added into the URL - and that they were told by support that means those links will "attract the fee" if the item is in a PL campaign.
https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Business-Seller-Board/Promoted-Listings-Changes-You-Must-Be-Joking-eBay/m-p/7858083#M333541
My first thought was of course we all know how much you can trust what support says - so take it with a large grain of salt.
But I did confirm that links from both the share link on the item page and when using any of the posting options under the Social tab in Seller Hub are in fact using a shortened link now and that when you follow that link, it does direct to a URL that has tracking information added on at the end.
Unfortunately, eBay does not provide explicit documentation for what each and every one of those added parameters in the URL mean - some of them may simply be tracking whether the link was produced by a specific widget, the method of sharing, a marketing campaign ID, whether the item is included in the eBay Partner Network affiliate program etc.
So it's certainly possible some part of that process could designate any clicks on those links as ad attributions, but I just don't have confirmation one way or the other on that yet and haven't been able to find anything official from eBay that would make it explicitly clear.
That being said - on the most recent Marketing Terms update which took effect January 15th, they changed this:
Ads may include text, graphics, a listing title, a listing description or other features and functionality eBay may make available, associate with or incorporate into your listing (e.g., “add to watchlist†icons).
To this:
Ads may include text, graphics, a listing title, a listing description or other features and functionality eBay may make available, associate with or incorporate into your listing (e.g., add to watchlist, add to cart, quick view, or other interactive functionality).
And I think it's safe to assume that "other interactive functionality" could include the Social sharing tools and/or share links on item pages so....like I've said with most of these changes, I think sellers really are just going to have to assume every sale will incur an ad fee if the item is enrolled in PL and set their pricing and offer negotiation strategies accordingly.
mcdougle4248
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
Thank you! I am preparing myself for the PL charges that will most likely be coming my way soon. Dang, I think I am toast!
wastingtime101
·1 year agoDidn't they give 30 days notice in other regions? So you'd have a heads up to end your campaigns.
eBay has been releasing Seller News updates the first week of the month. Since we passed that for June I'd guess you have a little breathing room because, unless there's a stand-alone announcement, the earliest they'd announce - if it's coming to the US - is first week of July.
There are some current ad promos ending June 30.
If I'm being honest, I think the "with no notice" in Liz's title is a little click-bait-y. 😉
True eBay has made changes to ads without a heads up in the past - things like increasing the minimums for dynamic campaigns, etc. But this is a major change to the attribution model. I can't imagine they'd launch without a 30 day heads up since ad rate is still effective for 30 days after ending it.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@wastingtime101 this is my current (hopeful) thinking - the help and policy pages were likely changed around February because that's when it first rolled out in Germany, they plan to eventually expand worldwide and want all the pages to match, but they'll still (again hopefully) give 30 days notice for each market as it expands throughout the year (as they did with UK, Australia etc.)
Like you said, if it even comes here - I think the odds of it happening have now gone up fairly significantly, but it's definitely still not set in stone.
Edit to add: I'll take the "click-baity" bait - it's a fair point, though in my defense, they really didn't give notice of the changes to the US policy pages. 😂
wastingtime101
·1 year agoYeah, you know I hate unannounced policy changes. On this one though, the changes aren't in effect - nothing has really changed yet - it's more a foreshadowing. So I guess we'll see what happens. I won't be surprised if there's a July Seller News that brings down the hammer.
Promoted Ads are regurgitating all over the site. It's kind of gross which is why I used a gross analogy. 😂
eBay wants sellers to focus more on ads than on great quality listings that'll sell themselves. It's frustrating.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@wastingtime101 yeah that's why I phrased it as a question and opened it up for others to share what they are experiencing.
I don't think it is in effect yet but candidly am not 100% sure on that - @my-cottage-books-and-antiques replied on the other post I had made about this indicating suspicions it had crept into the US already without notice (not sure if that was just a reference to the policy pages or the new model actually being in effect) and I certainly can't blame anyone for looking at the situation with ad fees being back charged last week and wondering if that "glitch" was maybe eBay either intentionally pulling the trigger on applying it to at least some US sellers or inadvertently doing so while making other tweaks or changes.
I agree with you on the reasons why I would think eBay would have to give 30 days notice but I've also seen things that honestly don't give me 100% confidence that they will.
Previously when asked about the new model, the blues here said "If we receive an update on this for the US site, we will be sure to share that update!" My hope is that now that it's been called out that there has been an update (in terms of the policy pages) for the US site, they'll be able to share more information to confirm if/when it will go into effect for the US or at least that 30 day notice will be given if nothing else.
fbusoni
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
Given the long history that we all are quite familiar with, I think that if anything your title understates the obvious pattern of subterfuge and malevolence for which eBay is legendary.
This platform is run by amateurs. No offense to amateurs intended.
gurlcat
·1 year agoJust curious, where were these comparison screenshots publicized, showing wording changes in the American venue pages as early as March, but are only surfacing here in June?
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@gurlcat a seller reached out to let me know about the different wording they were seeing in the campaign creation setup. That led me to start checking out different help and policy pages and comparing what they say today to what they have said previously.
Thanks to whoever out there is keeping a close eye out and saving those pages to the Internet Archive frequently, I was able to capture screenshots of the changes and a general timeframe around when they occurred.
Of course eBay should be proactively advising sellers when significant changes are made to policy pages like this but they hardly ever do.
gurlcat
·1 year agoLOL thank you, I just wish they'd reached out to you sooner. Why keep something like this a secret?
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@gurlcat I feel ya 😂
The seller just noticed that campaign setup difference today and it had been a while since they had last created a new campaign, so not sure exactly when that changed (if it was also around the time that the new model rolled out to Germany or if it's more recent).
I can think of a few million reasons why eBay would want to keep expansion to the US secret for as long as possible....though none of that wouldn't make it ethical or justified, in my opinion.
gurlcat
·1 year agoOkay I'm confused again. If they just noticed it today, where did they get the screenshot from March 4th?
EDIT: Or the February one, or any of them?
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@gurlcat sorry for the confusion 😂
The first screenshots in my OP are of the PL campaign creation page - that's an account specific page you have to be logged in to view, so it can't be captured by public archiving tools like Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
The image from November 2024 is a screenshot I took of that page when eBay changed the Dynamic ad rate minimum (just so happened to also capture the wording in that section) and the image from today is a screenshot I took of what that page looks like if you create or edit a campaign today.
I took those screenshots because a seller reached out to me saying they had noticed the wording on that campaign creation page had changed.
The fact that had changed then prompted me to go looking to see if any public facing help and policy pages had also changed.
So then I looked up saved older versions of those public pages in the Internet Archive and was able to compare various dates to narrow down when those public pages were updated - those are the screenshots I took showing February, March etc.
Just as an example -
Here's the archived version of one of those pages from January 26.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250126150624/https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/promoted-listings?id=4164#section2
And the same page from April 28th.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250428160517/https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/listing-tips/promoted-listings?id=4164
bennotbill
·1 year agoI know little about these ad "extras" but didn't I read somewhere that even if you cancel it continues for 30 days.
If that is the case shouldn't ebay do the same and give sellers at least 30 days notice of any upcoming changes.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@bennotbill Under the current model, yes there is a 30 day overhang where even if you end the ad campaign or remove an item from an ad campaign, you will still be charged the ad fee for any attributable sales within 30 days.
Under the new model, there is still a 30 day window from when the click on the ad occurs, but the item still has to be in an active ad campaign at the time of sale for it to count - so if you end the campaign or remove the item from a campaign before then, it doesn't count.
As for giving 30 days notice - eBay did provide 30 day notice for Germany and UK, Australia, France, Spain and Italy and I sincerely hope they will do the same for the US as well.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource thanks for the clarification on how this is working elsewhere. I know you have been keeping an eye on Germany and so forth. Have you noticed any sellers providing tips on how they are adapting to the new ad program? Aside from dropping ads completely...
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
@gurlcat
I've suggested (up the chain) in the past that when eBay modifies a help page or replaces it should be dated and what the exact change that was made. I know there have been edits to announcements in the past (re-wording, words removed, rephrased etc). It makes one think that they just hope we won't notice or the alternate perspective....we are losing our minds...so no biggie in theire scheme of things.
The dating suggestion is standard practice with most other commercial websites for the purposes of transparency. For anyone that has checked out eBay's TOS to figure out what precisely was updated will get the idea on this.
valueaddedresource
OP1 year ago@lotzofuniquegoodies agree 1000%! Also goes for community posts from blues...dealing with an unrelated issue on the UK boards right now where a blue had multiple posts over the last 2 weeks very adamantly saying one thing, with several of us responding because we just didn't quite believe what they were saying was true and now he's finally come back around to say he was wrong but instead of just saying that, he also edited all his prev posts so the thread would now be super confusing to anyone who will stumble upon it in the future wondering why we were all arguing with him in the first place. 😂
A simple post acknowledging the mistake and providing the correct info while leaving the previous replies intact would have been better - or even editing the previous replies and leaving them but then appending a note with a date explaining that info is not correct and here's the correct info etc.
Any way, that's somewhat off topic here except to say that I absolutely agree with you that eBay should develop a standard practice for logging changes in trackable and transparent ways.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoI just saw that @valueaddedresource - re: links in listings.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·1 year ago@valueaddedresource
Total agreement. On side note technical issues used to have the date opened and solved and that info remained visible for a certain time length. Now once there is an "assumption" it has been resolved, it gets purged into oblivion. In some cases it was never really fully fixed or the exact same problem returns. Whatever the case, the dreaded out of sight...out of mind mentality.
mcdougle4248
·1 year ago@wastingtime101
Ditto...that is how it reads to me, too.