Promoted Listings Advanced

[katzrul15]

Have read thru this a couple of times.  

Will this mean that PLs as we know them now will essentially be worthless/not effective?

A little concerning as we use PLs quite a bit currently.  Not certain our budget can work for the PL Advanced or that I have a "daily" budget for PL Advanced?

Thoughts?  

How Promoted Listings AdvancedBETA works

Promoted Listings AdvancedBETA is based on a cost-per-click model. You start by deciding how much each keyword and click is worth to you. Next, you bid to target placements at the top of eBay search results. Top placements show your listings to buyers right when they’re looking for your items across all experiences on eBay, including desktop, mobile, and the eBay app.

With this new type of campaign, you’ll be able to:

• Bid for the top slot in search using keyword and budget controls, and pay per click.
• Select the keywords that matter to you.
• Set a daily budget for additional control.

To set up your first campaign, go to the Seller Hub Marketing tab. You can create a new campaign within the Advertising dashboard by following these simple steps:

1. Name your campaign.
2. Choose dates and a daily budget.
3. Name your Ad Group.
4. Add your listings and keywords to the Ad Group.
5. Select a maximum cost-per-click for the keywords, displayed as “CPC bids” in the tool.

Review your campaign after you complete these steps.

Top tips

• Use features like suggested keywords and bids to help you set up effective campaigns.
• Include high-quality listings in your campaign with complete and accurate item specifics and great photos for the best chance of gaining high visibility. In addition to your bid, factors including keyword relevancy, listing quality, competition, and daily budget determine whether your ad will appear in the number one position.
• Use the daily budget feature to manage your ad spend.

You can also use both Promoted Listings Standard and Advanced together to help achieve maximum visibility for your ad placements across the eBay network, and utilize both budget approaches for your ad spend.

Coming later this month—Promoted Listings AdvancedBETA

Starting at the end of this month, Promoted Listings AdvancedBETA will be available to all eligible Promoted Listings sellers. If you’re eligible, you’ll be able to opt in to Promoted Listings AdvancedBETA to start bidding for the highly coveted top spot in the search results, as soon as it’s accessible.

All existing Promoted Listings campaigns will automatically be renamed Promoted Listings Standard campaigns, without you having to do anything. The only changes will be to the name and attribution logic.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@nuclearomen  Thinking about PLA a little more....I've said it is primarily aimed at sellers of new-multi-quantity merchandise, but... I wouldn't confine it to those sellers. For example, if I sell in a strong niche, say, vintage guitars, I might consider using it not so much to sell whichever of my guitars ends up in the #1 slot, but as an advertising vehicle to get people into my store.  In that sense, I see it the way I viewed some items in my antique booth back in the day....a big, unusual item in the center of my booth was always a draw...it might not sell quickly, but it brought people into the booth who bought other stuff. It helped my booth stand out. 

Now, as ebay improves ebay store newsletters, adds things like coded coupons for repeat buyers, and so forth, I think looking at the bigger picture, some of these tools used in combination might be very effective to increase one's business overall.  Some sellers will "get" that, and use it to their competitive advantage, others will not. 

Going to be interesting to see who benefits and who doesn't....

[velvet@ebay]

Hey @nuclearomen and @my-cottage-books-and-antiques! I'd be happy to try and clarify the differences between the two and yes, Promoted Listing  Standard (PLS) isn't going anywhere, both will be available to our sellers. Also, as many have said throughout this thread, it's good to consider what will be best for your business. 

PLS is shown in several places on eBay though, and includes the percentage fee. Promoted Listing Advanced (PLA) is currently only shown at the top slot of the search results and has the cost per click rate. There is no additional percentage of the sale that is charged. 

If a listing is in both PL S and PLA, a single sale will only be attributed to one campaign type. That will be based on the campaign type the listing was participating in at the time it was last clicked. If you want to find out which listings sold through each campaign, you can take a look at your sales reports in the Advertising Dashboard in the Marketing tab of Seller Hub. 

I was able to find some great information about the way these promotions work as applied to billing, and I'll include that in it's own post. 

[velvet@ebay]

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@katzrul15 wrote:

@nuclearomen 

Right now I can view on each listing the number of views (clicks), watchers, etc.

Once an item sells, is there a report or a way to know what the "clicks" were per item?  Just wondering what my "average" view/click per item is before it sells.  Even if it is by item type (action figures, ornaments/seasonal, etc).  I am betting it is higher than I think it is.

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Hi @katzrul15! Yes there will be reporting and it will include "clicks" as a raw metric. Initially though, the report won't calculate the following metrics for you: 

• Avg. Cost Per Click  (Total ad fees/Clicks)
• Click Through Rate (Clicks/Impressions)
• Conversion (Sales/Clicks)

[velvet@ebay]

Hello! There have been some questions about how sellers will be charged for listings that are promoted via both Promoted Listing Standard and Promoted Listing Advanced, and I'm going to provide the below info that will hopefully help. 

• If your listing is clicked in an Advanced ad and is then purchased through a Standard ad, you will be charged for all CPC clicks plus the Promoted Listings Standard ad fee.
• If your listing is clicked in a Standard ad and is then clicked and purchased through an Advanced ad, you will only be charged the Promoted Listings Advanced ad fee.
• Examples:
  • Sale attributed to Promoted Listing campaign:
    • A listing for a wireless speaker participates in both campaign types. It has an average CPC of $0.25 in the Promoted Listings Advanced campaign and a 7% ad rate in the Promoted Listings campaign.
    • The wireless speaker appears in the top slot in search via a Promoted Listings Advanced ad that is clicked once by a buyer.
    • The next day, the wireless speaker appears in a Promoted Listings placement on a listing page, where the same buyer clicks the Promoted Listings ad and buys the wireless speaker for $100.00.
    • Because the wireless speaker listing was participating in a Promoted Listings campaign at the time when it was last clicked, it accrues a $7.00 ad fee via Promoted Listings and $0.25 for the click it received in the Promoted Listings Advanced campaign.
  • Sale attributed to Promoted Listings Advanced campaign:
    • A listing for a pair of basketball shoes participates in both campaign types. It has an average CPC of $0.50 in the Promoted Listings Advanced campaign and 5% ad rate in the Promoted Listings campaign.
    • The pair of basketball shoes appears as a Promoted Listings placement on a listing page, where a buyer clicks on the ad.
    • The next week, the basketball shoes appear in the top slot in search via an Advanced campaign. The same shopper clicks the ad and then purchases the basketball shoes.
    • Because the basketball shoes listing was participating in an Advanced campaign at the time that it was last clicked, it accrues a $0.50 ad fee via Promoted Listings Advanced and no fee via Promoted Listings.

[katzrul15]

velvet@ebay 

Thank you so very much for that information!  Really helpful!

[flyingmvp]

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@frugality_inc wrote:

Summed up nicely in the Marketplace Pulse article:

https://www.marketplacepulse.com/articles/ebays-plan-is-more-ads

"However, as eBay becomes a pay-to-play marketplace, it squeezes sellers’ profit margins. It also abandons product recommendations for “Similar sponsored items” and “Sponsored items customers also bought” (just like Amazon did). Thus eBay has found a short-term plan to grow revenue but still has no answers for declining market share."

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Good Reading, thanks.👍

[farmalljr]

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@ittybitnot wrote:

At least at this point, it is ONLY the number one slot that is being bid on.

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

Thank you.  So only the "winner" gets to pay for the clicks.  That certainly is an odd model. 

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Consider this.... HOW would one KNOW if they are getting clicks from these PLA's or not? You don't. I've paid for PPC advertising and no longer do it. 

See my question I just wrote in my first line. Companies that charge for PPC advertising have no incentive to be "honest" about what clicks you get. Matter of fact, they have a reason to be less than truthful, about how many clicks you received. 

At this point, none of us REALLY know if something sells through promoted listings, IF it was actually due to a real promoted listing sale. We only have the word of the company charging us the fee. There is NO incentive for that company to be honest, if they can inflate their fees. No one is policing the police.

Having done advertising with Google, I know this.  I know the game. I've learned it through the hardest lessons of all (school of hard knocks). 

Anyone doing this type of advertising on this platform, IMO, is throwing away money. 

[katzrul15]

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@farmalljr wrote:

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@ittybitnot wrote:

At least at this point, it is ONLY the number one slot that is being bid on.

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

Thank you.  So only the "winner" gets to pay for the clicks.  That certainly is an odd model. 

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Consider this.... HOW would one KNOW if they are getting clicks from these PLA's or not? You don't. I've paid for PPC advertising and no longer do it. 

See my question I just wrote in my first line. Companies that charge for PPC advertising have no incentive to be "honest" about what clicks you get. Matter of fact, they have a reason to be less than truthful, about how many clicks you received. 

At this point, none of us REALLY know if something sells through promoted listings, IF it was actually due to a real promoted listing sale. We only have the word of the company charging us the fee. There is NO incentive for that company to be honest, if they can inflate their fees. No one is policing the police.

Having done advertising with Google, I know this.  I know the game. I've learned it through the hardest lessons of all (school of hard knocks). 

Anyone doing this type of advertising on this platform, IMO, is throwing away money. 

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I too have wondered about this many times.  You have no idea if e-Bay is being forthright with the data/charges.  Could all just be the placebo effect for all we know.

[farmalljr]

Winner winner chicken dinner. No seller here is privvied to the back end of the algorithm. None of us can be absolutely certain what is ACTUALLY sold by a PL. No one is going to be certain what REALLY was a PLA click.

To me, anyone paying for PLA is just asking to get "milked". 

Google, the largest advertising company in the world, gave me their "assurances" that my clicks were "vetted" and that they were truly people looking for what I was selling. Not the influx of "sales" calls I was receiving to buy a car warranty or other advertisers calling my to advertise with them (spam callers). That was my imagination..... Odd how when I stopped the campaign,  those calls stopped. Months of advertising and MANY dollars down the drain on the PPC scam. 

Anyone that thinks that PLA's are a good idea, just go right ahead and open up that wallet. When they fold up and go under, makes more room for me. A fool and their money are soon parted. 

[nuclearomen]

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@my-cottage-books-and-antiques wrote:

@nuclearomen  Thinking about PLA a little more....I've said it is primarily aimed at sellers of new-multi-quantity merchandise, but... I wouldn't confine it to those sellers. For example, if I sell in a strong niche, say, vintage guitars, I might consider using it not so much to sell whichever of my guitars ends up in the #1 slot, but as an advertising vehicle to get people into my store.  In that sense, I see it the way I viewed some items in my antique booth back in the day....a big, unusual item in the center of my booth was always a draw...it might not sell quickly, but it brought people into the booth who bought other stuff. It helped my booth stand out. 

Now, as ebay improves ebay store newsletters, adds things like coded coupons for repeat buyers, and so forth, I think looking at the bigger picture, some of these tools used in combination might be very effective to increase one's business overall.  Some sellers will "get" that, and use it to their competitive advantage, others will not. 

Going to be interesting to see who benefits and who doesn't....

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I seen this earlier today but I got busy so I came back to it now. 

Yes, I agree, but not specifically new, but large quantity sellers (i.e. 50, 100, 200, 1000...) but also not small money items... wouldn't be beneficial to pay per click for items under $30 (IMO of course) when seller can just use PLS and just select a fixed percentage like 2% or something. 

I guess you can use PLA on an item or two (if the quantity exists) to use as a means of store promotion but I don't think it's really necessary when buyers can get to you store from your profile, listings, PLS or normal listing... seems like an expense not needed to me. But what I do isn't what other sellers do... if it fits your budget and something want to swing with then go ahead. I'm personally not doing any (really, ANY) ebay promotion endeavors. My focus is on website for the new year, yes, I'll still use ebay, but I'm not devoting any extra time or money to it...there are brighter shores in other scenarios for me. I promote everything via PLS, that gives me some of ebay's stolen promotional space on my listings they use for promoting others items. I don't care if not top of search, though usually i am or near it, most items i sell there either only mine or only a few other sellers with, no skin off my back that needs to use PLA. 

Tell me though, what good is a store newsletter when users don't subscribe? Even when they were able to they didn't. No one wants extra (spam) mail from ebay. You can already send previous buyers coded coupons for several months now, done it several times. 

[mr_lincoln]

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@farmalljr wrote:

Winner winner chicken dinner. No seller here is privvied to the back end of the algorithm. None of us can be absolutely certain what is ACTUALLY sold by a PL. No one is going to be certain what REALLY was a PLA click.

To me, anyone paying for PLA is just asking to get "milked". 

Google, the largest advertising company in the world, gave me their "assurances" that my clicks were "vetted" and that they were truly people looking for what I was selling. Not the influx of "sales" calls I was receiving to buy a car warranty or other advertisers calling my to advertise with them (spam callers). That was my imagination..... Odd how when I stopped the campaign,  those calls stopped. Months of advertising and MANY dollars down the drain on the PPC scam. 

Anyone that thinks that PLA's are a good idea, just go right ahead and open up that wallet. When they fold up and go under, makes more room for me. A fool and their money are soon parted. 

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@farmalljr   You bring up a good point.  The other question I have (as I read through the description) is WHAT is the incremental breakdown on the price per click function?  Are we talking full one cent increments or down to tenths of a cent increments per click?  This seems like its more about paying for a position on the Search results and not for a listing via the PLS where you simply get your item displayed in an available sponsored slot on a page.   And with the PLS I assume the higher the AD rate % you use the more often your item gets visibility compared to a Seller who only has 1/2 the AD rate you do.

I like the PLS approach because you set a fixed AD % and only pay it if your item sells. 

I can see issues with the PLA BETA promotion whereby a competitor simply clicks the day lights out of your item to drive down your profit ... I guess the question about that type of situation should be asked ...

I will say this, I did learn from the Senate hearings last year on the internet (and among other things, search results manipulation), that most Buyers purchase from the first page of a returned Search AND usually one of the top 4 items listed.   They cited the fact that many people "trust" the internet Search and the top items returned on a search result. 

However, when the Search algorithm(s) go wonky and start returning unrelated items that certainly does not apply but in general it does when like items are returned in search.

[nuclearomen]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

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I like the PLS approach because you set a fixed AD % and only pay it if your item sells. 

I can see issues with the PLA BETA promotion whereby a competitor simply clicks the day lights out of your item to drive down your profit ... I guess the question about that type of situation should be asked .

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And reasonably so! Good point, no one brought up here (i think), but yeah, what's to stop that? Is ebay going to monitor who and how often they click that PLA listing? Know full well they won't enforce any action against doing it. And it's a relatively slimy way to stick it to a competitor... all using PLA should be worried with this scenario! 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Got an answer on my PLA question...only clicks ON ebay are counted.

[farmalljr]

@mr_lincoln 

I will relate my experince with Google... When questioning them about these clicks, I was told they "vetted" your clicks. That they tracked IP's and all the technical stuff along with it. That they tracked the clicks and if someone tried clicking twice in a 24 hour period, you were "not charged". Which we both know is bologna. 

Again, there is NO benefit to the advertising company, to NOT charge you or to "reject" those clicks. Again, we have NO proof that is even happening. 

As to the dollar and cents of a click, it was never "cents or partial cents" for a click. Literally it was dollars and whole cents. eBay may start clicks at lower costs then google, but I'm betting it's not going to be less than 25 cents a click. There are people who advertise with Google that are paying more than 20 dollars a click. My own clicks were 2.75 per click and some were 12.95 just depends on the click you were after. Doesn't take long to eat through a hundred dollar bill. 

I don't think eBay isn't going to run their PPC campaign much different that Google. Categories that are "hot" will cost more for the clicks, then ones no one is looking at. More advertisers in that particular category? Cost per click goes up. While a few sellers may see a very marginal increase in sales, that will not be outweighed by the large increase in cost to sell. It's much harder to control costs with PLA's. There is no predictable formula for X clicks = a sale. 

Your "budget" will be eaten through every week/month, because that's just how it works. I'm not saying seller's ads won't be shown, but if the benefits outweigh the costs, I don't see that happening. PPC advertising is of little benefit and expensive. It's like all the games in Vegas, they are designed to benefit the house, with the player winning only on rare occasion. 

To be fair, I have not used the new PLA's here, and I won't. I've already used Google and learned my lesson how that type of advertising doesn't work. Others may claim huge success, but I don't believe it based on my own experince. So everyone is free to take what I am saying to heart, or dismiss it. IMO, eBay is looking out for eBay. They aren't adding this type of advertising to benefit anyone but THEIR company. As a matter of fact, they are only one company in a LONG line of companies that offer this type of advertising. 

[mr_lincoln]

@farmalljr   My sincere thanks for sharing your experience with a similar per click based advertising program.  In just thinking of the math I would surmise eBay would be in the tenths of a cent per click range and let Sellers compete driving the price per click UP as they compete for the top spot. 

Higher prices per click would limit the program to higher value items that have more profit margin in them.  I don't know the Seller profile they are targeting but I suspect that the average Hobby seller would not go for this nor the first or 2nd level Store owner (or at least the vast majority of them).

So we will see how this "BETA" program goes ...