I tried to list a doll this morning, and, while researching comparisons, I noticed that the total items shown didn't match the total search results. It showed there were 6 results, but only 1 was shown:
I thought maybe it was a "clear your cache", etc. issue, so I did all that and got the same result. Then I tried searching from a private window, where the same search yielded accurate results. Incidentally, I had several items to list and this happened with every item I searched, so it wasn't a one-off.
Another member posted here about how ad blockers are preventing promoted listings from appearing in search, and the results were accurate after I disabled AdBlock.
However, all my listings are promoted, I've used chrome with AdBlock as an extension for years, I research comps routinely, and sponsored listings have never been "hidden" like this, nor have the number of results been noticeably different from the number of listings shown.
I don't know if this is a change with AdBlock and/or chrome and/or eBay, but I do know that my sales have been down dramatically for about 2 months. I've previously accepted this fate as just part of the business, but if promoted items aren't appearing in searches for people who use ad blockers (literally everyone I know), it's safe to say that's going to affect sales.
This certainly seems like an issue that eBay needs to address immediately, especially with the constant emphasis on promoted listings. Sales for everyone using promoted listings are being lost every single second.
@optimus.prime wrote:This is no longer what’s happening. eBay only shows promoted or non-promoted. Not both unfortunately. And the way ebay decides Promoted or Not, is a mystery. Seems completely random.
eBay says promoted listings only appear once within a search, but they come up twice - once as "Sponsored", and again organically. Here's an example w/ AB disabled:
@optimus.prime wrote:Interesting. But with AdBlock enabled it blocks both?
4/24: AB/ABP was blocking both
4/25: AB/ABP was blocking neither
4/26 (today): AB/ABP is blocking anything with the word "Sponsored" - here's the same search with AB enabled:
But with AdBlock enabled it blocks both?
Just the sponsored version is blocked.
This is bizarre. I am getting completely different results from you. And no matter what, no listings shows twice. This is my search results with absolutely no extensions enabled. The results are also the same for me on the eBay app and Safari on my phone.
@popblox wrote:
@optimus.prime wrote:
I want to bring some awareness to a couple more issues. Firstly, I do not know how long or if, AdBlock filters update themselves. Obviously, you can manually go in and update it. But as far as automatic, who knows if it updated for 50 million users or not yet. I wrote a ticket to AdBlock and they responded telling me to manually update my filters.
Secondly, AdBlock and AdBlock Plus hide all "Sponsored" listings on eBays main search. Unfortunately, I believe this is AdBlock intended function. So it's probably not something they will fix. It seems eBay sometimes puts "Sponsored" on the listing and sometimes not. I ran a test this morning and the majority of my listings weren't showing. The ones that did, are the ones eBay decided not to put Sponsored under it. All my listings are sponsored.
@popblox Just to make sure I wasn't the only seller this was happening too, I ran some test on your listings. And indeed, your listings that say "Sponsored", are being hidden as well. The way I checked, on my desktop I have UBlock Origin. It doesn't block ebay listings at all. I took some of your listings, and searched them on my desktop. If they said "Sponsored" in main search results, I search them on a laptop that has AdBlock. And sure enough, they showed on my desktop but not the laptop.
Not really sure what the solution is to this. Just wanted to share what I've learned now that this thread has me playing around with AdBlock.
I don't see any listings that are "Sponsored" either @optimus.prime
velvet@ebay brian_burke@ebay sheila@ebay
When I marked this issue as resolved yesterday, I was able to see my listings as "Sponsored", as well as organically within search results. However, it appears as though this issue is nowhere close to being resolved.
While some of our listings are finally appearing in search, today they are only appearing organically. My best guess is that AdBlock & AdBlock Plus make constant updates that override any temporary fixes.
Based on what I've seen, I also believe that these updates are exponential - if left unattended and/or without any counteractive code, these updates will eventually hide all the listings for any seller who ever had a "Sponsored" listing.
Again, there are 90 Million users of AdBlock & AdBlock plus. The vast majority of buyers have no idea that they need to disable their AdBlock to view accurate search results. While this is a huge issue for all eBay sellers, I'm sure I don't need to mention the negative effect this is having on eBay's bottom line (but I'm going to anyway, obviously).
I also want to mention that this issue with AB/ABP of hiding site-specific promoted items seems somewhat targeted exclusively to eBay. I can very clearly see "Ads" or "Sponsored" items on Amazon, Etsy, Wal-Mart, etc. while my ad blocker is enabled - the only items that seem to be hidden on these sites are links to external websites.
What's the next step here?
We've been passing this all on @popblox. If they come back with questions or info to share, we'll be sure to post here. Thanks for the continued feedback!
Any specific model number I type of nearly all of my products, does not show at all unless you sort by something other than "Best Match". If Best Match is selected, you will not see my listing. And the majority of eBay Buyers will not even know Best Match is hiding results. I have tested over 30 items, and 27 of them are hidden.
Here is an example of one of my products. AdBlock Plus fully enabled.
And here is an example of one of @popblox products. I choose her most expensive.
Go ahead and copy and paste her titles, or mine for that matter with Best Match on and see the results.
@optimus.prime wrote:However, doesn't eBay default to "Best Match"? Effectively hiding all listings for specific searches.
Yes, it does - the search results I was getting (3 hours ago) for my listings were the same, regardless of how the results are sorted.
But, things have already changed! I thought this was only a "Sponsored" thing, but it looks like most of my listings (as well as yours) have already reset to being entirely hidden when sorted by "Best Match" with AB enabled, even if the search is incredibly specific.
The above is from Action Figures category - my listings in dolls still appear organically, but not at all as Sponsored.
Unbelievable, this is absolutely maddening. Considering the amount of time I've spent chasing this nonsense, only to be right back to square one - it would've been easier to just drive to the ATM and throw the cash out the window on the way home.
