How to disable Sponsored listings?

[beautifulbeauty2012]

Every time I search for something, I get those unrelated items marked as Sponsored (Promoted by sellers). It is getting really annoying not to see what you are looking for. Why would I be exposed to used Sponsored item if my search is for new only? In the middle of the search I am exhausted and don`t buy at all.

I turned outside ads by Google and other outside sponsors by installing Ghostery (eBay looks so much cleaner without the junk ads! only eBay-related items), but how do I disable internally sponsored items/Promoted by eBay sellers? Please help. My IT friend is watching a movie now lol, but I need help now.

[kataggr-44]

I put all sellers that I do not want to see on my blocked seller list in advanced search.

[beautifulbeauty2012]

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@kataggr-44 wrote:

I put all sellers that I do not want to see on my blocked seller list in advanced search.

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 All sellers? That`s a lot of work, plus the new ones might list that way, you can`t catch all of them that way. There must be an easy way to do it.

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

@beautifulbeauty2012 

I have had good luck using the Ad Block Plus browser extension with the "Allow Acceptable Ads" option unchecked. With that extension installed I do not see any of the sponsored listings appearing in the search at the top of the results. If the sponsored listings qualify, they appear in the results sorted correctly minus their "sponsored" tag.

Others have said that they have installed Ad Block Plus and unchecked the "Allow Acceptable Ads" box, but still see the sponsored listings, so there may be some other contributing factor that I am not aware of. But that is certainly something to try.

I have not found a good option for mobile browsing or the eBay app to block those sponsored listings there, though.

[beautifulbeauty2012]

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@eburtonlab wrote:

@beautifulbeauty2012 

I have had good luck using the Ad Block Plus browser extension with the "Allow Acceptable Ads" option unchecked. With that extension installed I do not see any of the sponsored listings appearing in the search at the top of the results. If the sponsored listings qualify, they appear in the results sorted correctly minus their "sponsored" tag.

Others have said that they have installed Ad Block Plus and unchecked the "Allow Acceptable Ads" box, but still see the sponsored listings, so there may be some other contributing factor that I am not aware of. But that is certainly something to try.

I have not found a good option for mobile browsing or the eBay app to block those sponsored listings there, though.

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Thank you. I only have Ad Block installed, not the Plus version. But for the outside ads Ghostery cleans better. Maybe someone found a sure and simple way to eliminate those internal promoted items.

[eburtonlab]

@beautifulbeauty2012 

I only have Ad Block installed, not the Plus version. But for the outside ads Ghostery cleans better. Maybe someone found a sure and simple way to eliminate those internal promoted items.

I currently have both Ad Block and AdBlock Plus installed in Firefox, though I am using the original Ad Block primarily for its element hiding ability. They can coexist, but you only need to use a filter subscription for one of them to avoid duplication of effort. You might try installing AdBlock Plus and see if it takes care of those sponsored ads when you uncheck the "Acceptable Ads" setting.

[beautifulbeauty2012]

@eburtonlab

Thanks again. I unchecked everything except from counts and location of Ad Blocker. Initial search result displays Sponsored items, but eventually (takes some times - is it normal, or it slows because I have two installed blockers?) I get filtered list. Then again, if I select by Price, those Sponsored displayed again, and in a minute or so, I get a clean search result without Promoted items. Is it how it work, or I am doing something wrong?

[greg5000]

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@beautifulbeauty2012 wrote:

Every time I search for something, I get those unrelated items marked as Sponsored (Promoted by sellers). It is getting really annoying not to see what you are looking for. Why would I be exposed to used Sponsored item if my search is for new only? In the middle of the search I am exhausted and don`t buy at all.

I turned outside ads by Google and other outside sponsors by installing Ghostery (eBay looks so much cleaner without the junk ads! only eBay-related items), but how do I disable internally sponsored items/Promoted by eBay sellers? Please help. My IT friend is watching a movie now lol, but I need help now.

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When I was buying here frequently (until the spring of 2019, when things became too ridiculous) I would ignore all of the sponsored/promoted listings.  They were annoying to me too. 

For me, I just tuned out eBay to get rid of all the unwanted noise (promoted listings, ads, technical issues, glitches, etc.).

I would like to tune eBay back in, but the management frequency needs to be adjusted on the dial, to one that resonates better with customers. 

[earlyant-77]

I think @shipscript might have a routine to block those. Not 100% sure, though.

[eburtonlab]

@beautifulbeauty2012 

I unchecked everything except from counts and location of Ad Blocker. Initial search result displays Sponsored items, but eventually (takes some times - is it normal, or it slows because I have two installed blockers?) I get filtered list. Then again, if I select by Price, those Sponsored displayed again, and in a minute or so, I get a clean search result without Promoted items. Is it how it work, or I am doing something wrong?

A minute is a long time -- I have noticed that when my searches load I sometimes see a flicker that I assume is a sponsored listing being removed or the sort changing, but it is very fast for me. Much too quick to read the listings.

It might be worth temporarily disabling your other ad blocker(s) to see if there is some conflict there that is slowing things down.

[beautifulbeauty2012]

@eburtonlab 

Works like a charm now, and I can breath again. Those Sponsored irrelevant pushed by eBay listings were driving me nuts! 

Really appreciate your help 🙂

[eburtonlab]

@beautifulbeauty2012 

Glad to hear you were able to make it work!

[jj7766984]

I kind of got lost in your posts...

Could I get a simplified list of instructions?

[eburtonlab]

@jj7766984 

If you are using a desktop browser, you should be able to install some sort of ad blocking extension, such as Ad Block, Ad Block Plus, or UBlock Origin.

If you have installed an ad blocker and you are still seeing sponsored listings in your search results, check your ad blocker settings to see if there is something like a setting for "allow acceptable ads" -- if so, uncheck that setting to block those ads.

If you let me know which browser you are using and which ad blocker, I will see if I can check to make sure the combination works to block sponsored listings.