Significant Drops in eBay Impressions and Organic Page Views: A Huge Problem

[retro-treasureparadise]

Since April 6th, my eBay impressions have dropped significantly from an average above 1 million to around 500k, and now they hover at around 600k. Despite contacting customer service, I received an unhelpful response that everything looks fine. Frustratingly, I have continued to upload new listings every day, but sales have still decreased. On April 25th, a new issue arose where my organic page views showed 0, which is clearly not accurate. I reached out to customer service, but their response was again unhelpful and similar to my previous experience. These ongoing problems have made me feel unstable and unsure about eBay's reliability. I am now considering moving to another platform, but before making that decision, I want to know if others are facing similar issues.

 

 

[valueaddedresource]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

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@valueaddedresource  Next thing you know, they'll say it's "in real time" with a straight face & obviously no understaning of what "real time" means 😑  This is a new feature, doncha know?  Real time in hindsight 😉  

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@simply-the-best-for-you  don't give them any ideas. 😂

[ladyindecadence]

Its quite obvious that if the data shown on these charts is extrapolated or a calculated estimate and not real time data then so is the data likely being fed into the search algorithm to calculate search placement. So at that point search placement is not based on anything a seller has control over.  Its also become very obvious that Organic impressions and clicks are tied to promoted Impressions and clicks.  As if you turn off all add campaigns organic impressions decrease drastically.  

[valueaddedresource]

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@ladyindecadence wrote:

Its quite obvious that if the data shown on these charts is extrapolated or a calculated estimate and not real time data then so is the data likely being fed into the search algorithm to calculate search placement. So at that point search placement is not based on anything a seller has control over.  Its also become very obvious that Organic impressions and clicks are tied to promoted Impressions and clicks.  As if you turn off all add campaigns organic impressions decrease drastically.  

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@ladyindecadence  I believe you are absolutely correct on this.

It appears this is not just a "display issue" but like you said (and @zamo-zuan and others have clearly shown as well) if the extrapolated/manipulated data is being fed into algorithms for search placement etc., it is very likely impacting far more than just reporting shown on the seller side.

[zamo-zuan]

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@ladyindecadence wrote:

Its quite obvious that if the data shown on these charts is extrapolated or a calculated estimate and not real time data then so is the data likely being fed into the search algorithm to calculate search placement. So at that point search placement is not based on anything a seller has control over.  Its also become very obvious that Organic impressions and clicks are tied to promoted Impressions and clicks.  As if you turn off all add campaigns organic impressions decrease drastically.  

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Yup, and if you didn't see it back then, this is the exact thing that was reported last year. They had a bug where all the Promoted Impressions disappear, and suddenly, all the Promoted views turned in to organic views. Once the Promoted Impressions returned, suddenly the total views stayed the same, but a portion of the Organic Views turned in to Promoted views.

This was undeniable proof that they are calculating/extrapolating their numbers. As their algorithm was proven to be Organic Views = Total - Promoted.

But now you can see a behavior where the IMPRESSIONS are also recalculating to match the views! It's insanity.

And yes, you're right. I've reported for probably 2 years now that when we reduced investment in our PLS campaigns our ORGANIC views dropped. Which is against the very definition of Organic traffic:

That's what happened when we lowered investment in our campaign to 2%. Note, we put them back up to where they were before, and both promoted AND organic never reached the heights they were at prior! So the system punishes you for even experimenting with lower rates. 

[valueaddedresource]

Same account, another 12 hours.....and more changes. Seriously, what the you know what is going on here?

kyle@ebay  devon@ebay  elizabeth@ebay 

[valueaddedresource]

Anybody here watch Succession? 🤣

[valueaddedresource]

And again same account, different day, numbers still obviously being extrapolated and manipulated.

Where are all the external views going now and what happened to the impressions?

[brian_burke@ebay]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

And again same account, different day, numbers still obviously being extrapolated and manipulated.

Where are all the external views going now and what happened to the impressions?

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@valueaddedresource Can you send Kyle, Devon or Elizabeth the Username so we can send it to our product team to confirm the metrics are accurate? The original issue reported was addressed - in fact this thread lead to it being escalated, so thank you everyone for posting.

The above may be a separate issue or they may have an explanation for why the metrics are displaying like they are for this particular seller. The team will send the general images up as well, but knowing the user can help us pinpoint what is occurring. 

Thank you.

Brian

[rugerskick]

Whats really interesting is that most sellers report a downturn in sales going along with lower impressions.  Kind of a no brainer, makes sense observation.  No kidding.  More views generally mean more exposure and more potential for sales.  This is exactly how ebay explains it, and promoted listings.  If it didnt work there would be no value to pay for more listings.

What is really the puzzler is they are making changes that reduce many, many sellers impressions, which are reducing sales.  This is happening across the board.  Most sellers arent seeing increases.  Ebay is reporting decreased sales.  These changes have affected sellers which have affected their bottom line.  Yet they still keep making these negative changes.

Its deliberate.  They aren't idiots.  They know exactly what they are doing.  But why deliberately tank the site?  How can they justify that to sellers and shareholders?  And before anyone says this isn't what a company like ebay does, I say, the recent Ebay stalking crime by officers and high level directors and their minions, of the Steiners.  When it comes to conspiracies and ebay, you cannot just say its paranoia.  They've been proven.

[valueaddedresource]

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brian_burke@ebay wrote:

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

And again same account, different day, numbers still obviously being extrapolated and manipulated.

Where are all the external views going now and what happened to the impressions?

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@valueaddedresource Can you send Kyle, Devon or Elizabeth the Username so we can send it to our product team to confirm the metrics are accurate? The original issue reported was addressed - in fact this thread lead to it being escalated, so thank you everyone for posting.

The above may be a separate issue or they may have an explanation for why the metrics are displaying like they are for this particular seller. The team will send the general images up as well, but knowing the user can help us pinpoint what is occurring. 

Thank you.

Brian

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Thanks brian_burke@ebay  - I'll check with this seller to see if they would like for me to share their user name and reach out to Kyle, Devon, or Elizabeth if so.

Appreciate you escalating it, but this is not the only seller still seeing issues like this with these metrics.

[rugerskick]

Youtuber/Ebay seller Flippin Aint Easy dropped a video today explaining a potential reason for some sellers drops in views and sales.  Please check it out if interested.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HE1yO50f-ww

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@rugerskick  Could you maybe summarize his explanation?

[rugerskick]

Basically he noticed that when he opted his acct into the global shipping program his impressions went significantly down, 50-60% of normal.  When he opted out, it took a couple days, but impressions started going back to normal levels he was used to seeing.

[stevemartin60]

All these megatechs are owned by the same people at the top and in the shadows.  We are approaching the social credit score system very quickly now.  Naughty people will not be able to buy or sell.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@rugerskick  Thanks. I've heard others saying that as well, but then I've also heard people say they tried opting out and it had no effect.

So, probably worth trying I suppose, if impressions/sales are really low.