What is shadow ban?

[liawrig.nq8rdwqa3]

I heard this word for the first time on a youtube seller channel.

[slippinjimmy]

The term predates eBay by many years, going back to the earliest days of the internet (Compuserve, BBS etc)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_banning

[m60driver]

The term is just another aspect of the reseller cargo cult people use to explain lack of sales.

[ten_o_nine]

It's like talking to your kids, you think you got your massage thru, while they blocked the message from reaching their brain.

[vintage-camerastuff]

"Blocking people on line without their knowledge".   So if you are not getting views on items you are trying to sell you may feel like you are being shadowbaned.   Maybe yes or Maybe no.  No one knows but the ebay bots.

[inhawaii]

I'm not sure but I see @stevemartin60 using it all the time.

Perhaps he could chime in...

[bonjourami]

Its an old wives tale.

[luckythewinner]

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@liawrig.nq8rdwqa3 wrote:

I heard this word for the first time on a youtube seller channel.

---

On eBay, is it s term people use when their items don't sell and they want to blame eBay because that is easier than assessing their inventory, their competition, their listings, and demand for their items. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Basically, its the cool kids' version of that old standby, "throttling", as in "ebay won't admit it, but they are deliberately throttling my sales (views, impressions, take your pick)

"Throttling" can be used broadly, as in "this week ebay is giving all the sales to the West Coast, but is throttling the East Coast"

The term "shadow ban" additionally carries at least the implication that the person is being "shadow banned" as a punishment of sorts "I criticized ebay on the Discussion Boards, and now they have shadow banned me."

The other thing the two terms have in common: Evidence is lacking to prove that either is actually happening. Generally speaking, Those who are convinced it is happening will believe it no matter what, those who don't believe it ,will not.

[inhawaii]

Wasn't that a Andy Gibb song?

[itscalledapostingid]

Ebay has published at the bottom of most every policy page the actions they take against users who don't abide by said policies.

The one action that really sticks out is:
"hiding or lowering the placement of listings in search results"

For example it can be seen on this page about ebay's Presale Policy:
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-policies/presale-listings-policy?id=4252

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@itscalledapostingid 

But that isn't "shadow banning". Shadow banning presumes that the action is being taken without notice. When it comes to policy violations, and being Below Standard, ebay is up front about what actions they might take in those situations.

Now, if you are making your comment to show that ebay has the capability of lowering one's placement in search, etc....yes, of course they have that ability. If I criticize ebay here, and that is followed by a sales decline, that is NO proof that the sales decline is the result of "shadow banning". 

[rugerskick]

A shadowban is when an account gets restricted, but the acct holder isn't necessarily made aware or can notice restrictions are in place.  From the acct holders perspective things appear normal.

It happens on various sites.  On a site where you post, it could be that they hide your comments from some to all other users.  It could be they hide listings from some to all others.  If its like a social media page, maybe you can do everything you normally do, but your page is isolated from everyone else.

[dirk12955]

All these responses are interesting.

I always thought "Shadow ban"  was when you went out on a sunny day and shadows

 weren't allowed.    Or they were banned.   

[chapeau-noir]

Next step: Ban Hammer.