Stronger Browser Security Standards (HTTPS)

[sandyoutlet]

Starting today, you will see changes on eBay item description pages that contain non-compliant HTTP content. Google Chrome has pushed their browser update which includes stronger security standards. As a result, eBay will be adding a "see full item description" button to all listings that contain non-compliant HTTP content.

This new experience will look very similar to the way mobile buyers already see listing descriptions today. It also ensures that we comply with the Google mandate and prevents your buyers from seeing a “Not Secure” warning when they’re shopping on eBay

Please review our landing page for more information and tools to help you identify any of your listings that may contain non-compliant HTTP content. 

EDIT 11/8/17 @ 12:23 PT 

We are aware of an issue where the eBay HTTPS identification tool is showing listings that were revised to be HTTPS compliant after 10/31 as non-compliant. We are actively working on this issue and plan to have a quick fix for any new or revised listings. Any existing listings that have been updated to be HTTPS compliant but are still showing as non-compliant in the tool will continue to show as non-compliant until the listing is either revised or renewed. If you do not revise or relist, the issue will automatically correct after 30 days.

Please note that if your listings are compliant, they will show normally to buyers and have the “secure” message in the URL. You can confirm this experience by looking at the live listing. This issue is confined to our tool that identifies non-compliant listings, which is currently failing to update to show listings as compliant after you have updated your http content to be compliant.

We apologize for this issue and will update you here as soon as the issue is resolved.

[shipscript]

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@dollybeauty wrote:

Shipscript, one of the listings I looked at from one of these members, has the See description button (did not see any links), but the See description button itself is a http link. Could this be the reason for the Not Secure message?

Are we sure that all of eBay's links are now https?

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@dollybeauty

No, links away from the page do not need to be secure, so those would not be a problem. Additionally, eBay has the ability to swap the protocol on the fly as their destination page loads so that the page loads with the correct protocol. I'm sure eBay realizes the world is loaded with legacy links and is accommodating those with a redirect feature (based on my earlier testing of eBay links). Thus, I would not become overly concerned about legacy links in pages, only in how those pages open when clicked. If they don't open with the correct protocol, then eBay needs to address them in their redirect table.

[sandyoutlet]

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@stoneledge wrote:

Hi @sandyoutlet

When I click on your Landing Page link

http://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing/browser-security-standards.html
and then click "Check Your Listings"

https://www.ebay.com/sh/lst/active/http-content

I get the report

Results: 0

You currently don’t have any listings with HTTP content.

I believe this to be true as my listing descriptions only have Advanced Formatting (bold, fonts, colored fonts) and no funny stuff at all.  Just text.

Yesterday when I was editing some boilerplate text in many of my listings I did see, for the first time ever, the linked box that you describe that Chrome will be showing for non-compliant listings. 

Rather than show the description on the listing page, it would show "View Full Item Description" (or similar words) in a box.  When I clicked the Box, it would take me to my descriptions, on a separate page, that had a URL that started with cgi.ebay (or something like that.)

But I think that when I refreshed the item's listing page (not in edit mode) the same box would go away and show the Description where it should appear on the item's page.

So the behavior of this was inconsistent and unreliable.   I haven't yet gone through all my listings, to see if the same thing is still happening.

I don't know if it's a Chrome issue or eBay issue, but I definitely saw this on 4 or 5 listings yesterday.

I don't need help or a fix.  But you may see similar reports.

Windows 10, Creator's Update, Chrome. Version 61.0.3163.100 (Official Build) (64-bit) (today, probably the same version yesterday... and there is an update downloading)

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Thanks for your note. I just checked your listings and they all appear to be compliant with the new security standards. Thanks for sharing your report. Let us know if you see additional issues. 

[dollybeauty]

Thanks @shipscript!

I thought these would still show Not Secure when the page loaded intothe browser. I be quiet now

[sandyoutlet]

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@usgamecollector wrote:
is https why ebay is going so slow for me? It's taking me 2-3 minutes to respond to my buyer messages through ebay.

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This should not be related to the HTTPS security update. There may be a relation to the external contact links policy. I'll check with the team. Thanks. 

[readabouthorses]

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@sandyoutlet wrote:

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@readabouthorses wrote:

@sandyoutlet

I'm seeing the See Item Description button on some of my completed listings that I did check with the i-way tool when they were live and they all passed. So I just checked one of the completed ones again with the i-way tool and it still checks out OK but it has the See Item Description button. Are you putting this button on all the closed listings or was there something in those listings that i-way is not catching?

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Would you mind sharing a couple item numbers that we can look into? Thanks!

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302447875631

[sandyoutlet]

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@terrycanarsky wrote:

I mean no offense, but I call **bleep**.

I use Chrome exclusively at home on my personal computer and various devices.  Nearly every person I know also uses Chrome (a few Neandrathals use IE 😉 ).   I have NEVER had a warning that eBay was unsecure or otherwise dangerous just because of a lacking "s" on the hypertext protocol. 

The number of eBay buyers using Chrome, as I was informed this morning by a CSR, is actually 68%.  While technically that is a majority, it is not "most" and should not initiate such a sweeping chaotic change.  Especially when eBay has many other much more serious and glaring issues.

~M

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Google just updated their browser security standards yesterday. In the future, when a buyer interacts with a HTTP page, the URL will change from the (i) icon to a "not secure" message. You wouldn't have seen it in the past because Google just made the update. This really is an initiative to protect buyers and sellers. I know that there is some inconvenience involved, so I apologize for that. 

[soundman07]

But see, I don't get your point at all, and you/ebay doesn't understand: why is someone else's "resources" MY problem??? All I want is my classic shopping and browsing experience on ebay, it is not my 'issue' to worry about http and https and ftp and gopher and all that; the WWW was built so the internet user was free to go about their way online without the encumbrance of having to learn code, or decipher blinking lights on a mainframe. Having to roll out different viewing elements because of different content is absolutely crazy. And I will use the web browser of my choice, not the one imposed on me manifested by the lowest common denominator ebay aspires too.  Force Google to solve the security problem on their end, or write code that permits a uniform experience despite the technical discrepancies. Stop putting yourself in ebay’s shoes, you must put yourself in the customers shoes for once: without them you would not exist.  ebay mustn't forget this, ever: it is not the customers problem to solve all your technical dilemmas, but it is ebay's problem to insure all buyers and sellers have the same hassle-free experience on the site, absent indignities from inferior site execution. Hurting buyer experience by dumping the security dilemma on them is a short-sighted, lazy, and unprofessional move. And yes, I could care less what Google demands – they are not God!

And by the way, the third party ads that pop up all over ebay are tens of thousands of times more a security risk to users than active HTML (or whatever is supposedly so terrible that compels ebay to ruin everything over), why won't ebay scrub the site of that risk?? Oh, wait, I know the answer to that one already: money.  That is why an ad-blocker is far better than anti-virus and much more useful than switching to Chrome.

[stoneledge]

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@cadexample wrote:
Did you see that where buyers need to ask questions (with a message) has been changed. And now the questions for an item being sold go to the community of buyers and sellers? I did find another way to contact seller (the only way) I see now. Go to the particular seller's store who has item you want to question. The word contact is over on right corner. It took a long time to find that Contact word! What's going on???

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That doesn't sound good.

[autopartspuller]

I am having the same exact issue with messages.

[chrysylys]

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@sandyoutlet wrote:

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@usgamecollector wrote:
is https why ebay is going so slow for me? It's taking me 2-3 minutes to respond to my buyer messages through ebay.

---

This should not be related to the HTTPS security update. There may be a relation to the external contact links policy. I'll check with the team. Thanks. 

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Sorry, but the 's' can definitely slow things down.  I've seen it quite often before.

[shipscript]

@theglozone227

I scanned your 405 listings with this bulk scanner and see that 236 still have the old Froo gallery with external links.

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

You'll want to contact Froo about getting those external links updated.

The scanner did not report any https issues.  If you list new items, they should be ok, but if you relist older items that were never updated or sell similar from an older item, then you may need to address both the Froo gallery and https in those listings.

[macman4623]

I have a netbook that I use to print shipping labels. Just loading the Amazon seller page takes a whole minute the first time it loads. After that its fast (must be the https).

And I use an older browser because I have some addins that weren't updated. Most sites work fine...some just have issues...

Frankly, I couldn't care if Forbes were secure. I'm on an Ethernet connection on a non-shared connection. I think all this HTTPS stuff is mostly for public WIFI.

[coolections]

tunicaslot wrote:

People for years have been complaining of google no longer showing Ebay items - which is a falacy - now they do something so we're in compliance and our items can continue being seen and they still have a problem with it. There are some people you can just never please but unfortunately - those who don't know better fall for all the tin foil theories and complaining.

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There is a topic started at least once a month with this complaint about sellers wanting google to show their items. Now sellers do not want google to show their items. Strange situation. You are correct, you will never please everyone, especially here.

[shipscript]

@ekmadonna

I bulk scanned your 1136 listing listings with this tool and found 849 with issues.

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

It appears that all those listings have the same issues: 2 missing targets and one non-secure image.

<a href="http://stores.ebay.com/ekmadonna"><img src="http://Store Policies" alt=" " border="0"></a><br><a href="http://stores.ebay.com/ekmadonna">Visit My eBay Store: ekmadonna</a>

However, the image doesn't work -- was it supposed to be the door icon?

You may want to revise those listing in bulk using eBay's Bulk Edit And Replace (BEAR) tool and replace the above phrase with this corrected phrase:

<a href="http://stores.ebay.com/ekmadonna" target="_blank"><img src="https://securepics.ebaystatic.com/aw/pics/icon/iconStoresNW_20x20.gif" alt=" " border="0"></a><br><a href="http://stores.ebay.com/ekmadonna" target="_blank">Visit My eBay Store: ekmadonna</a>

If you need help with that, please post a new question on the Active Content Forum, where I am happy to assist.

http://community.ebay.com/t5/Replacing-Active-Content/bd-p/activecontent

[dtexley3]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-24pack-E12-Candelabra-6Watt-LED-Chandelier-Candle-Light-Bulbs-45W-Incande...

clicking on the See Description results in garbage display.