Sudden 43% Drop in Traffic – Algorithm Issue?

[timeles_38]

I wanted to share my traffic report to see if others are experiencing the same thing.

As you can see from the chart (attached), my listings were getting steady impressions—both organic and promoted—then traffic suddenly fell off a cliff after Sept 1.

• Organic: 5,070 (down 40.2%)

• Promoted Listings: 7,531 (down 59.8%)

• Total Traffic: down 43% compared to the prior week

This wasn’t a gradual decline due to buyer interest—it was an overnight drop. My inventory, pricing, and promotions haven’t changed, so this seems tied to eBay’s visibility algorithm or a reporting glitch.

I’m concerned that independent sellers are being throttled while promoted traffic is heavily favored. Even with promoted listings, traffic still collapsed.

Is anyone else seeing this sudden drop in impressions? If so, this points to a systemic issue rather than individual seller performance.

[wmsakalaucks]

Or it could be a result of kids back to school draining pocketbooks.

[timeles_38]

Back-to-school spending doesn’t cause an overnight cliff-drop in impressions. If it were buyer demand, the decline would be gradual. My chart shows thousands of views one day, and almost nothing the next. That points to an algorithm or visibility issue, not just consumer spending habits.

[inhawaii]

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@timeles_38 wrote:

This wasn’t a gradual decline due to buyer interest—it was an overnight drop. 

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 Perhaps it was an overnight drop of buyer interest.

I’m concerned that independent sellers are being throttled while promoted traffic is heavily favored. Even with promoted listings, traffic still collapsed.

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 You just contradicted yourself.

Sellers come here every day reportimg their sales "fell off a cliff" and try to blame ebay for it.

[timeles_38]

Not a contradiction. Buyer interest doesn’t vanish overnight it shifts gradually. My chart shows thousands of impressions one day and near-zero the next. That’s not buyers leaving; that’s a visibility switch being flipped. Sellers reporting the same ‘cliff-drop’ points to an algorithmic issue, not coincidence.

[mam98031]

Speaking for myself and I've been around for quite a while.  Summer things slow down.  August is typically the worst month of the year for me but thing things start coming back to life mid September.

Sometimes we have to pay attention to the world around us in order to try to make sense of what is happening with our sales / traffic.    This particular summer back to school supplies were higher than in previous years, so it took more resources from some buyers to take care of business.  Others are likely not spending on or not spending as much on things that aren't a must.  

IDK why you think traffic here can't drop off a cliff from one day to the next.  The stock market does that from time to time too.  Both are real things, even if you don't want to accept that.

I hope your sales pick up real soon for you.  

[eburtonlab]

Another possibility to consider: 

Perhaps eBay has changed the way impressions are being counted, or there is a problem with the display of impressions rather than an issue with your impressions themselves. Similar issues are common with views, where the displayed number drops to zero for a time before apparently being corrected.

[inhawaii]

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@timeles_38 wrote:

Not a contradiction. Buyer interest doesn’t vanish overnight it shifts gradually. My chart shows thousands of impressions one day and near-zero the next. That’s not buyers leaving; that’s a visibility switch being flipped. Sellers reporting the same ‘cliff-drop’ points to an algorithmic issue, not coincidence.

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Ok then it's ebay's algorithm and you are being throttled. What do you plan to do about it?

[meme6253]

Whatever the issue is, It is Definitely an Issue to be looked into.

[logical_collection]

This is some sort of Bug on ebays end. Happened to me twice in the last few months, this week included i lost about half my counted views disappeared overnight.  yesterday all my views were about even, today it looks like this. **my impressions are normal, no fluctuations, all even no drop. but this is my views, which followed one of my worst weekend in sales to date.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@timeles_38  I do not see anything like that in my traffic report. My report looks normal, no steep drops. 

[ebooksdiva]

You sell in a highly saturated category so drops like that shouldn’t  be surprising. 

[blacktopautoparts]

Hey how about if you stop this behavior when people come here asking for help. There is definitely something wrong here because you always turn things around on people that are having some kind of selling issues when they are reporting them here. Your agenda has grown severely old

@redlinear  @zamo-zuan 

[redlinear]

I don't know...There's so much going on here on eBay.  Some of it we can see and know it's happening, yet there's nothing we can do about it.  
Even if it was straight up competition.  Things that used to work for that, no longer possible due to eBay.
Ai runs the show here.  
If my wife sends me to the store for Highland Cottage Cheese, and I bring home Daisy Cottage Cheese?  That's like "ai" me deciding she doesn't know what she wants, so I'm going to get her something different because I know that's what she "really" wants.   
That's eBay search now..........And that's where it all starts, and tends to go downhill from there.

[inhawaii]

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@blacktopautoparts wrote:

Your agenda has grown severely old

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My agenda?

What agenda would that be?

If sellers want to blame ebay for slow sales, that's fine with me.