SEE ALSO:
eBay User Agreement - As of 22 May 2007
http://eventhorizon1984.typepad.com/event_horizon_1984_blog/2007/05/ebay_user_agree.html
eBay Privacy Policy - As of 22 May 2007
http://eventhorizon1984.typepad.com/event_horizon_1984_blog/2007/05/ebay_privacy_po.html
eBay Privacy Policy Appendix – Third Party Access - As of 22 May 2007
http://eventhorizon1984.typepad.com/event_horizon_1984_blog/2007/05/ebay_privacy_po_1.html
From eBay Seller Central Forum - AdChoice - Coming Soon!
http://eventhorizon1984.typepad.com/event_horizon_1984_blog/2007/05/from_ebay_selle_3.html
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Online Letter From eBay.
Sun, 20 May 2007 18:25:01 -0700
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Changes to the eBay User Agreement and Privacy Policy
Dear *,
I'm writing to let you know that the eBay User Agreement and eBay Privacy Policy have been updated, effective immediately for users registering as of May 16, 2007, and on July 9, 2007, for current users.
The rules and dispute resolution policies you originally agreed to in the User Agreement have not changed in any substantive way. We've made some changes to this agreement to make sure our legal documents are consistent with the ways our sites and services are evolving and to better meet the needs of our user community. You'll notice some changes to our "Content License" and "Abusing eBay" sections to that effect.
The new Privacy Policy, like the old one, outlines the broad categories of information we collect from you, how we use this information, and what your options are with respect to the information we collect. You'll notice a few changes to the policy, which we've made to cover new programs and site safety projects we're putting in place.
* Combating Fraud. We're increasing our efforts to combat fraud on the site with a variety of programs. For example, we've made some changes that allow us to address "Ask a Question" and "My Messages" spam and other malicious activities using our message systems. And we're making sure our disclosures about cooperating with law enforcement allow us to respond to increasingly sophisticated fraudsters and criminals.
* Streamlining Services. We've heard your comments about how many steps it takes to complete a transaction or get customer support where multiple eBay companies are involved. So we've made some changes that will allow our Customer Support team to help you with questions that span our companies. And we're streamlining your use of the services provided by members of the eBay corporate family, so your experience across the eBay Inc. platform will be as seamless as we can make it. Some of our new programs also mean you'll see eBay services and content in a lot of places (not just on the site), so we've made some changes to reflect that.
* Customizing Your eBay Experience. We're rolling out programs and working with partners that help make our sites and services, and some of the ads you see on the web, more relevant and useful to you. Naturally, because we're a transparent community, we'll identify the new ads served with this program and provide you with choices about them. Beginning in July, we'll make a new preference available in My eBay--named AdChoice--that lets you tell us whether you want us to use the information we have about you to customize the ads you see. You'll be able to sign in and change your advertising preferences in My eBay at any time. You'll also notice links on the ads we serve this way, so you'll know an ad is served with the new program and be able to set your preferences right from the ad.
We hope you'll agree that these changes will make the eBay sites and services work better for you. If you accept the new User Agreement and Privacy Policy, you don't need to take any action. If you do not wish to accept the new User Agreement or Privacy Policy, please refer to our Help pages for instructions on how to close your account.
Thank you for using eBay and we look forward to many more successful transactions!
Sincerely,
Scott Shipman
Counsel -- Global Privacy Practices
eBay Inc.
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For new newsgroup readers, these are not our forum posts. Any comments to the posters below should be made on the applicable thread, marked in bold below.
FYI itspostingtime posts spin and damage control for eBay ...
[eBay has deleted the below thread]
From eBay Stores Forum
OT: Sold Out
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000372399&tstart=0&mod=1179764254228
oldspartantrader (2503 ) May-21-07 01:01 PDT 6 of 40
To bad -- in the interest of TRUE CHOICE -- that we could not just opt out of participating.
The reason people come to eBAY -- To purchase widgets that we pay to have hosted -- pay to display --
Now we are paying eBAY to draw these people so that they can sell our customers to competitors.
Is a truly beautiful thing --- The cannibalism and parisitism --- masochism and sadism
I posted about these ads on the day I became aware of them -- I felt then -- and I feel now -- that they are the single biggest threat to a seller -- and the single biggest signal of eBAY direction that has been revealed.
These ads fly in the face of common sense -- dood taste -- and ethical business behavior.
When eBAY monetizes the site in this manner -- IT is stealing my work to piggy back their profits.
Carl
itspostingtime (2 ) May-21-07 05:54 PDT 20 of 40
postcards,
I haven't received this announcement yet, but this language:
If you do not wish to accept the new User Agreement or Privacy Policy, please refer to our Help pages for instructions on how to close your account.
is pretty much standard for ANY User Agreement with ANY company----the initial User Agreement you agree to is likely you say something like: This Agreement is subject to revision at any time We will provide notice of any revisions (insert number) days before the changes become effective.
and then, because the changes apply to everyone , everyone has the same option.....an option identical to the option they had when they first read the original User Agreement: you can either agree to it and join, or reject it and not join/leave.
This is BASIC. There's nothing unusual about this.
As to the preference coming in July, I think its pretty clear that is an OPTION: you can go along with it or not. If you decide not to use it, that doesn't alter the User Agreement and you don't have to leave.
One thing I'm not clear on is what this means: some of the ads you see on the web It kind of sounds like they are talking about ads ebay sponsors OFF eBay ("on the web") rather than ads here, but I suppose it could mean both. I guess we'll know better come July. LOL
I do think it's fairly clear that, whatever ads they are talking about, this option is only about whether you want them customized (using data they have collected about you, which is why this is from the Privacy Dept) or whether you don't want them customized. If you opt out, it's not like ads won't appear. They'll appear, they just won't be customized for you.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-21-07 06:44 PDT 27 of 40
chop,
IPT, what that might mean is that ebay will disclose our preferences to their partners and say when they're advertising ebay ads like in my yahoo mailbox ... then I'll see customized ebay ads instead of that flippin' ebay bicycle thingy
Yes, basically that's what I think they mean by customization and "ads on the web"
Might be worthwhile to find the page that talks about who they share your info with. Ebay has a page that that breaks it down and then when it changes you can compare!
Thanks for the tip, but personally I would never go to the trouble of comparing and stuff. If this is what I gather it is, it's no big deal to me. Do I mind that Amazon shows me other stuff Amazon thinks I might be interested in? No. It's the same principle. maybe I'm missing something, but nothing about this bothers me. Who knows? Maybe if I opt in I'll actually start seeing some ads that would interest me rather than the usual assortment of stuff I couldn't care less about.
turtle,
I don't see anything in the Announcement to suggest this has anything to do with placing ads on ebay LISTINGS. Where are you seeing that?
fai** May-21-07 06:46 PDT 28 of 41
The Sponsored Ads, showing directly under currently running, active Core listings, have been here for quite some time. Not everyone has seen them for the past two months, although many folks have posted screen shots. They are real. Soon, everyone will see them.
Let's take a trip down Memory Lane. Remember the old days when you did a web search on Lycos, Snap, Hotbot, Web Crawler, etc? You'd get a list of links to your query and be simply drooling with anticipation of having your question answered.
You'd click on a link and the page would open...to a list of links that obviously promised an answer to your question. You thought, How Cool...more references. You'd click on one of those links and...you guessed it...another page would open that consisted of nothing more than more, frickin' links.
WTF??? You figured that one of the links had to be an actual page of Real Info, so you clicked on a few. By the 10th one, you were really pizzed. You had multiple pages open, all of them covered with links and not a single, relevant Content Item to be found.
You knew this not only Sucked (big time!), but you also knew this was not the way the web should work. What the he!! was this sort of thing, anyway?
Advertising. Advertising of advertising. Advertising of advertising, nested within pages of advertising of even more advertising.
But, where is the Product? In your case, the "product" is the answer to your question (square footage of Antarctica - shoulda just looked in an old geography book, dammit!).
This is not to say we all don't occasionally land upon one of those Link pages, even nowadays, but most modern Search Engines have weeded-out the majority. Besides, those mazes of nested advertising were an invention/result of the Booming Internet (mid-to-late 90's).
Much more than simply a "House of Cards", they were basically a whole danged development! Although this is a bit of a simplification of the facts, it does help to explain how the Boom turned to Bust, practically overnight.
Ebay will become a page of Links. A return to simpler times (tongue is firmly against check). A Gateway, if you please, to all sorts of wondrous things. Oh, and while you're here, take a look at some of the crapola listed. You'll find a listing or two squeezed between each Sponsored Ad.
Ah, but where oh where do those links take a person? Why silly, they take you to shopping comparison sites and mega-seller sites. OK, but do they actually have the product I originally searched for on ebay? Uh, maybe. Possibly. Hopefully. We don't give a shat, we got your Click Money. Begone, peasant! And be sure to come back again.
"The first company that I have ever been associated with that is both CANNIBALISTIC -- and -- PREDITORY toward every mark in sight."
~Carl
itspostingtime (2 ) May-21-07 06:54 PDT 30 of 40
The more I think about this, the more I'm inclined to think that the ads referred to would include ads displayed here (and perhaps elsewhere). Like the banner ads at the top of some ebay pages and so forth. (I still don't think they are talking abouts ads on actual listings.)
But, the thing is, those banner ads and so forth, they are already here. They aren't going anywhere. All this seems to be doing is saying: You can choose to have the ads we show you customized for you, or not.
So, what's the big deal? The ONLY thing this seems to do is provide the customization offer. If we're going to be looking at ads anyway, some people may indeed decide they'd prefer customized ads. Those who don't opt for it, will continue to see what they've been seeing.
maybe I'm missing something, but this doesn't seem like any big deal really. A good thing for those who want the customization, and basically neutral for those who don't.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-21-07 07:02 PDT 33 of 40
Dorothy,
Agreed, and that's what I'm trying to say. You can either opt into this (which means permitting ebay to use your information, so that it can customize the ads for you) or you can say "No, you can't use the info", in which case, obviously ebay cannot and will not customize the ads.
But the ads will be there no matter what, just as today.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-21-07 07:12 PDT 35 of 40
turtle,
Why would they let us customize the ads if they were not on our actual listings? Dosn't make sense, does it?
Well, actually, it makes perfect sense. Advertisers love when people opt into stuff like this for the simple reason that it means the ads can be targeted more effectively. Ads that are narrowly targeted...and these would be...have a much better chance of being clicked on.
It's basically a win-win for the advertisers and the target audience member. If I opt in, (in theory) I'll see ads that will actually interest me, rather than ads that probably won't interest me. And if I am interested, I'll click through, which is good for the advertiser. And good for ebay, since it gets paid on the basis of the number of clicks.
It's basically the same idea behind Amazon's very successful "If you are interested in this book, here are some more you might like."
The point is, this is NOT about us as sellers, it's about ALL ebay registered users as ad viewers. You are not customizing the ad based on what YOU want eBay to show to OTHERS. If you opt in, you are simply saying to ebay: show ME ads based on the info you have about my interests and so forth.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-21-07 07:22 PDT 37 of 40
animalpaws,
I have long thought Ina Steiner either needs an editor very, very badly, or she deliberately slants her stories to provoke people LOL (In fairness to Ina, I'm inclined to think the former. At least, most of the time. LOL)
Now, go back to the auctionbytes article and (before the entire thread goes ballistic here), click the link she provided and notice that, for example, your SS number is NOT shared with third parties.
In other words, nothing to be alarmed about, just another poorly worded sentence by Ina that could mislead people into thinking ebay hands out your SS number to third parties. To really understand what she's saying, you MUST click on the link she provides. Otherwise, it's highly misleading.
muledaddy357 ( 2301
) View items for sale May-22-07 11:01:17 PDT
I went to read for myself and you are throwing out a blanket scare mesage when in all actuallity none exist.The financial information is for internal service providers only.If one were to read your post ,they would think that Ebay is selling that financila info to everybody.That is not the case.I would advise all to read the linked information rather than trying to interpret somebody's agenda in their own words.
