About link removal

[qiiwexc]

Hi

A couple of days ago I received a message from eBay in regard to links in my listings ("Immediate action required. Remove active content and/or contact information from your listings").

I have two kinds of links:

- Google Translate widget at the top of the listing

- Track and Trace link later in the text

I'm trying to figure out which one triggers this warning (or both). None of them are explicitly disallowed by the policy, however, none of them are explicitly allowed either.

Here is an example of the affected listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/282424113431

Ideally I would like to leave them both, but I don't think it's an option.. Can I leave at least one of them? Or both must be removed?

Thanks!

[cynthealee2 · Accepted solution]

You are going to have to pull both of them.

If it takes them off ebay and isn't one of the three approved links it's going to get the listing blocked.

[missjen831]

Try using this tool provided by ebay member ShipScript http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ActiveContentSandbox.htm

It will show you everything that has to be removed

[qiiwexc]

Got it, thanks!

[qiiwexc]

That's a great tool! Thank you!

[fireagate]

I am getting the same "Immediate action required. Remove active content and/or contact information from your listings" email from eBay regarding my listings. I had also gotten the message earlier this month, called tech support and was told to ignore the issue at that time. I don't know if that was the correct answer though.

I do use the Froo Cross Sell Gallery, which has an 'off eBay link', but it directs people to my other eBay listings so I don't know how eBay looks at that. I know links can't take people offsite, but if it directs them back to eBay??????

I suppose my options are either...... drop the Froo Gallery and lose the cross sale marketing, or do nothing and see if eBay takes my listings down.

Any good thoughts on resolving this would be appreciate. Anything to stop the "Immediate action required. Remove active content and/or contact information from your listings' would be great.

[cynthealee2]

@ fireagate

First you need to know the cross promotion scrolling galleries no longer work the way they did to start with.

They now (if they have been corrected, and yours has) take you to the seller's all selling page and NOT to the individual items as they did to start with.  So you may or may not want them in your listings any more.  ( I pulled mine out of all mine simply because I think it's frustrating to click on a pic thinking you are going to THAT listing, and instead taken to a LONG page of all the items the seller has for sale.  It doesn't even take you to your store home page; it takes you here instead: https://www.ebay.com/sch/fireagate/m.html?_ipg=100&_dmd=2&_sop=1&p=17 )

If you want them to go to certain areas of your store there are easier ways to do it without the bots going off about off eBay links. send me a message using the @ and my name (correctly or I don't get the email) and I'll come back and show you.

Second, in order to figure out WHAT the issue is go run this scan http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ActiveContentScanner.htm  it's built by Shipscript and they know EXACTLY what they are doing.

If it ends up being the scrolly thing either delete it completely, or go ask them to fix it so it is eBay compatible ( I think they have, cause yours go to that all selling page and that's how Auctiva Fixed theirs).

Then based on WHAT it says is the issue the easiest way since you only have 14 listings is to:

Go to your seller hub page

Find the "task" area

Click on the thing that says "Remove contact info and/or links to non-eBay websites from listings"

It should open a new page with a list of listings that the bots have issues with

Right click on the first item in the list and make it open on a new tab.

Click revise on that listing.

Scroll down to the description area and look over to the right for something called "mobile friendly checker".  Click that.

A new window pops up, there are three tabs

Mobile view

Active Content

Non-compliant links

Start with the first one, if there is red, click the button that says fix it for me, then go to the next tab and do the same, repeating it till all 3 tabs are happy with you.

Make SURE you save in that pop up window (save likes to hide so scroll down to find it in the pop up window), then go to the bottom of the SYI form and click "submit / save (something)".

Repeat this until you have "revised" every listing on that page.

***** I would like to point out that it takes me longer to type this out (every time I type it) than it takes to actually DO it once you've done it 1-2 times.   And unless you have pics, in the listing this fixes 90% of the issues sellers are having with the "contact info / links" emails.  I did 115 of them in less than 2 hours while reading the boards.********

Give it 5 minutes or so, then either click the Remove contact info and/or links to non-eBay websites from listings (located in tasks) section of your seller hub and see if they go away.  (usually they do, sometimes they take a bit longer.  If the SAME ones are still there 24 hours later yell for @ shipscript and they can help.... cause after that it gets real complicated real quick and I do easy stuff 😉

PS if it's pics in the listing (any one else) at this point snatch em out of the description areas quick cause they start blocking in Oct... which Oct 1 is Sunday. Then figure out how to put em back later.

[shipscript]

@fireagate

Half of your Froo galleries are compliant and half are not.  The non-compliant galleries are in your older listings. If Froo is not updating the older galleries, then you may want to simply remove the entire gallery from those 9 older listings.

http://www.isdntek.com/ebaytools/ActiveContentScanner.htm

If you are comfortable with copy/paste in HTML code, you could lift the Froo gallery out of one of your compliant listings and paste it into your non-compliant listings after you remove the Froo gallery from those older listings.

They've done a pretty good job of marking it off in the code

<!--STARTFROOGALLERY-->
<!--DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE-->

...gallery code here...

<!--DO NOT ALTER ANYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE-->
<!--ENDFROOGALLERY-->

[cynthealee2]

pssssst @shipscript

I run the scanner on mine and it confuses the daylights out of me cause I don't speak comp (though you tried real hard lol)

I know the issues on mine are the templates are wrong, the photobucket pics, and the links to my store, and the contact me.

Is that what that sea of red means?

The templates will be fixed as I pull each listing, and recreate it with the newer ones till then I told eBay to "fix it".  I'm pulling the pics from the older ones that still go to photobucket, as I do each "revise", and the links just needed the _blank thingy added.

Does that cover everything the scanner thing says is wrong?   And if not would it be fixed by completely recreating the listing with the NEW stuff Auctiva has?

(blond needs simple yes no answers, the tech went to bed hours ago so please no html stuff)

[shipscript]

@cynthealee2

I think you've got the problem covered.

When the photobucket images go away and you remove their links along with the photos, that will eliminate a major portion of the problem.

The store links and contact links still need the target="_blank" attribute and eBay's Description Checker will fix those for you when you use the "compliant links" option on that listing form tool.

And it does look like your new Auctiva template is coming up clean if that seems an easier way to get around the problem.

[fireagate]

@cynthealee2

@shipscript

Many thanks for the help, I have my listings fixed with the updated Froo Gallery coding and the listings are no longer flagged. Bummer about losing the direct link to the individual items, but since I have so few listings right now I can live with it as is. Hopefully they will update the gallery someday to link directly to the item number link, but I would presume tracking everyones direct listing links would be a hassle for them.

Thanks again!

[suekiz]

Thank you so much ! Spent an hour looking for a link that I didn't know existed in HTML over and over with no success till I used this tool . it saved my day !