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.

 

 

[zamo-zuan]

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@rugerskick wrote:

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.

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This may be related, or may be incidental. More testing will be needed to be sure. 

[zamo-zuan]

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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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I'm sorry but I have to say this is an extremely tone-deaf response. This thread was obviously not observed to see all the evidence that various users (including myself) have shared.

The original issue of the traffic page not adding up *is not fixed* and still has the fluctuations it did earlier. The metrics are most obviously not accurate if they change day by day... 

And this is the point we were raising earlier - the alert given for this bug was NOT thorough and did NOT include all the characteristics of the issue! We were told by eBay earlier in this thread that the "tech team made the note and that it was understood correctly" - but since you're claiming the original issue was fixed, your message here confirms that the issue was NEVER thoroughly reported or understood.

Furthermore, the observations from last year and this year that show these metrics are calculated/extrapolated were never addressed. Something as serious and alarming as this should at least receive a response from eBay. Because the bridges have been burned at this point and for the evidence shown, it's obviously not just a "visual bug".

And on the day this issue was supposedly "fixed", the traffic page no longer matches the ad page. So you mean to tell us - and expect us to believe - that the Ad page is supposed to tell us that we're getting 1450 organic views, meanwhile the Traffic page says we only got 750?

We've seen enough to know it's not arguable that either one - or BOTH - of these pages are using made up numbers. And based on the earlier observations (which were never addressed) the Traffic page is obviously calculated and not extrapolated - which the issues last year AND this year both coincide with this observation. This is a MAJOR issue - why aren't we being given real, accurate counts of our traffic as we're told these numbers are supposedly? Claims that it's just tallying for up to 72 hours doesn't cut it anymore, especially when they're still fluctuating far beyond that point, and we've seen what is behind the curtain of how these numbers recalculate based upon the other traffic statistics. The evidence might be being ignored, but we can SEE that it is being calculated rather than counted.

With all due respect, please do not give us a run-around. The other eBay staff member was obviously not even checked with before this response was written, and it only serves to show that this issue - as serious as it is - isn't even being taken seriously by eBay. And there's no possibly explanation for one page telling us we're getting 2x the amount of views than what the traffic page shows. It's not mathematically possible.

[ekmadonna]

I am about ready to test it and pullout of EIS . I get way more sales from the new program than I did in GSP BUT my USA sales have completely tanked as have my impressions and page views. I have heard others say this is directly related to being in the new International Shipping Program. I used to average 2-5 sales a day. it is May 10th and I have only sold 12 items so far this month while continuing to list DAILY with over 2600 listings. 

[valueaddedresource]

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@ekmadonna wrote:

I am about ready to test it and pullout of EIS . I get way more sales from the new program than I did in GSP BUT my USA sales have completely tanked as have my impressions and page views. I have heard others say this is directly related to being in the new International Shipping Program. I used to average 2-5 sales a day. it is May 10th and I have only sold 12 items so far this month while continuing to list DAILY with over 2600 listings. 

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@ekmadonna  @rugerskick and anyone else who believes EIS is negatively impacting views and impressions - monthly community chat is today and it's all about EIS....might be a good opportunity to bring it up.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Monthly-Chat-with-eBay-Staff/Monthly-Chat-May-10th-at-1-00-pm-PST/m-p/... 

[zamo-zuan]

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@ekmadonna wrote:

I am about ready to test it and pullout of EIS . I get way more sales from the new program than I did in GSP BUT my USA sales have completely tanked as have my impressions and page views. I have heard others say this is directly related to being in the new International Shipping Program. I used to average 2-5 sales a day. it is May 10th and I have only sold 12 items so far this month while continuing to list DAILY with over 2600 listings. 

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If you do, please keep us posted on the results. We'll need a decent sample set if we want to confirm it's the problem and not just incidental upon eBay's other issues.

For example, this traffic issue we're seeing could be the culprit. As the "Ad" page thinks there's 2x the amount of Organic Views than the Traffic page - meaning the algorithm could potentially be thinking we're getting double the amount of Organic traffic compared to what we're really getting.

Considering how this might combine with EIS, the extra traffic from EIS might be tallying double, and could in theory let the algorithms think we're getting far more traffic than we really are. 

[etrusca]

I think someone should bring up both the core traffic discovery and the EIS change in the weekly chat today so that it hits home and gets addressed as it clearly is affecting sales. I am unable as am in transit.

Although I don't do promoted listings or EIS the impact of these problems is affecting all of us one way or another - I have had 2 sales in 16 days and many of us that have been affected see the inconsistent, fluctuating & changing numbers in traffic reports which even I have had.  I had 2 days with no external views, which is unusual even for 215 items , on at least one day I think they were trying to fix it. 

Those that aren't being affected by having their views diminished or blocked are certainly benefitting by a reduction in the competition or choices available to a buyer and potential uptick in sales.

The site should not ghost or bury those that are not in one of these 3 promotional & shipping programs, that would be highly unethical. We are paying to be on the platform, especially with a store. 

I find it particularly discouraging & surprising that Ebay is making more of an effort to launch unrelated new programs & partnerships with sneakers, sports and even grants when the core of the business - the platform and exhibiting our merchandise, which is what we are paying for by contract multiple times through base store fees & final value fees, their main revenue is not being addressed & prioritized.

[ekmadonna]

To add to all this, I have 108 EXTERNAL PAGE VIEWS so far today and ONLY 34 ORGANIC PAGE VIES. That is almost triple the amount and I have never had a single day in 9 years of selling with MORE External Views than Organic! And I have only had 3 Page views since 10:30 am 3 hrs ago. Something is way off!

[shar_27]

External views are not bad at all; in fact, they are essential for online selling. Consider that eBay only accounts for 3.5% of US ecommerce traffic.
Buyers from extrenal sites have less chances to haggle with you, have less options for price sorting.
They pay by instinct.
You want to sell high, harness the power of external views
Another effective way to boost your sales is through cross posting.
eBay is now plagued with technical glitches and flocked with bunch of internal noobs who can't even get things straight.
External views are your true allies.

[valueaddedresource]

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@shar_27 wrote:

External views are not bad at all; in fact, they are essential for online selling. Consider that eBay only accounts for 3.5% of US ecommerce traffic.
Buyers from extrenal sites have less chances to haggle with you, have less options for price sorting.
They pay by instinct.
You want to sell high, harness the power of external views
Another effective way to boost your sales is through cross posting.
eBay is now plagued with technical glitches and flocked with bunch of internal noobs who can't even get things straight.
External views are your true allies.

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@shar_27  I don't think anyone here would argue with you in general about that - external views are great..if they are legitimate views.

The issue here is that the numbers eBay is reporting for external, organic and promoted seem to be a jumbled up mess at any given time, changing from one day to the next, and clearly being extrapolated based on some kind of formula instead of actual counts of real impressions and views.

So it's not that the views are external that's the problem, it's the fact we can't trust what eBay is reporting to us because none of this adds up.

[valueaddedresource]

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@ekmadonna wrote:

To add to all this, I have 108 EXTERNAL PAGE VIEWS so far today and ONLY 34 ORGANIC PAGE VIES. That is almost triple the amount and I have never had a single day in 9 years of selling with MORE External Views than Organic! And I have only had 3 Page views since 10:30 am 3 hrs ago. Something is way off!

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@ekmadonna  - would it be possible for you to take screenshots like they ones I've been sharing here over the course of a few days to see if the reporting changes over time?

I wouldn't be surprised if half of those external views "disappear" later.

[ekmadonna]

I have no experience with screen shots. Or I would

[brian_burke@ebay]

@zamo-zuan I understand your frustration. My response was to get information that will help our teams identify the issue, if it came across as other than that I apologize.

Due to this thread, the VP in charge of North America got involved to ensure this issue was escalated to the product team and the identified issue resolved. It's clear from the continuation of the thread that not everything was addressed. 

That was the latest information we had...it was resolved. Given the additional posts we want to circle back with the team responsible. The more specific I can be the better, that is all I was asking for. 

I will circle back with you with additional information once I hear back from the team.  

Thank you. 

Brian

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@ekmadonna  Screen shots? Do you by any chance use Windows on a PC? There's a very easy Windows tool to take screen shots with that...it's called Screen Snip.

[etrusca]

it's very easy - here are some ways for pc

then you have the photo to paste  in your post - depending on windows 10 or 11 . 

https://www.wikihow.com/Take-a-Screenshot-in-Microsoft-Windows

create the traffic report for the day (s) or even pull up the day view on the slider bar click which ever buttons 

if you are on an i phone  you just do the same then hold the left upper side volume & right side control buttons to take the screen shot - then you can insert as a photo into your post - my ext are also greater than last 2 days and we are only 2/3  thru day. it's easy once you get the hang of it

[valueaddedresource]

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@ekmadonna wrote:

I have no experience with screen shots. Or I would

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@ekmadonna  - @my-cottage-books-and-antiques  and @etrusca gave some good tips but if you aren't able to do screenshots, if you could at least keep track from day to day, make note if the numbers change over time and report back here that would be helpful too.