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 apologist itspostingtime posts spin and damage control for eBay ...
//
From eBay Stores Forum
Cobb's BIG Townhall Lie
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000378586&tstart=0&mod=1180718088730
gone2deriver (0 ) May-31-07 22:21 PDT
Bill Cobb during tonight's Townhall again stated that Yahoo Ads would only appear as complimentary results and not as competing results. This is a Big Lie! It took me only one search "Apple Mighty Mouse" to find no store results coming up, only ebay express listings and Yahoo Ads For "Apple Mighty Mouse"
Here is the search:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=apple+mighty+mouse&category0=
And here is what it looks like: (in case they fix it to hide the evidence!)
Directly competing Yahoo Ads linking to competing products offsite are all over the ebay. It would not be so bad if we could link to our own off ebay stores.....
Previously Cobb stated that ads would only appear on "Null Result Pages". Another Bigger Lie!
If you search for announcements where Cobb states that the ads will not compete with ebay listings, it is funny but those announcements have disappeared.
September 05, 2006
Yahoo Graphical Advertising Changes
May 25, 2006
A message from Bill Cobb – eBay Agreement with Yahoo!
Auctionbytes still has his quote:
Yahoo Ads Appear in eBay Search Results
In May, eBay North America President Bill Cobb had stated that the Yahoo ads would be for complementary products and services. "For example, a buyer searching for a hair dryer might be presented with sponsored search ads for related items like shampoo or hair brushes" (http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200605250457542.html).
Further more Catherine England stated that:
eBay spokesperson Catherine England explained , "Bill Cobb spoke about the possibility of presenting "complementary" ads on eBay searches that yielded results - where the ads would feature items related or complementary to the term searched. That may be something we test in the future; what we are currently testing is the display of Yahoo text ads on eBay searches that yield no results. As the test continues, we will continue to refine what gets displayed and when."
This proves beyond any doubt Bill Cobb constantly LIES to sellers!
I remeber last year when this first came up.... Well welcome to the end of that slippery slope folks!
We are now paying to list content and in some cases we are producing content (blogs wikis etc) so Ebay can sell ads driving users away from our listings and content onto competing sites with only ebay gaining from that revenue! What a rip-off!
If you go to ebay Live make sure you hammer him on this!
roc** May-31-07 23:07 PDT 1 of
I've been seeing those sponsored ads in some searches I've done. They DON'T just come up when no auctions are found. I've seen them in searches where about 30 auctions are found. And some store items.
And I've had quite a few NULL results & when I can go to the category I see all kinds of listings that never came up in the search. The items are there but Ebay's crummy search engine is not showing them. Or maybe Ebay plans it that way.
huc** May-31-07 23:19 PDT 2 of
hey if there was only one lie in today's town hall, then that is a HUGE improvement. maybe the glass is half full after all.
huckster3000
DEAD END DRIVE-IN DVD
.
itspostingtime (2 ) May-31-07 23:36 PDT 3 of 31
gone,
I just finished listening to the Town hall and it seemed to me what Cobb said is that the text ads are currently being TESTED and that the INTENT is for them to be complimentary, NOT competitive. MY sense was that Cobb was basically saying ebay does NOT want competitive ads.
I may be mistaken, but I think the ads themselves are generated by Yahoo, and my impression is that , while Cobb isn't going to openly criticize Yahoo , he recognizes that some of the ads are a problem.
Also, I don't think Cobb ever said the only ads would be for null results. I think what he said in the past is that they would start testing with null result ads, and go from there. Well, obviously, they've gone from there.
In fact, here's this from the July 2006 auctionbytes article you cite:
eBay spokesperson Catherine England explained , "Bill Cobb spoke about the possibility of presenting "complementary" ads on eBay searches that yielded results - where the ads would feature items related or complementary to the term searched. That may be something we test in the future; what we are currently testing is the display of Yahoo text ads on eBay searches that yield no results. As the test continues, we will continue to refine what gets displayed and when."
This is from Cobb's May statement you also cite:
Over the summer, eBay and Yahoo! will also be testing new text ad placements on some eBay pages. For instance, we’ll be looking at placements at the bottom of search results pages if there are no matching items found. We’ll be testing other placements on a limited number of search results pages, too, as a way to learn what works well for eBay buyers and sellers. This will include testing some sponsored search ads for complementary products and services – for example, a buyer searching for a hair dryer might be presented with sponsored search ads for related items like shampoo or hair brushes. To be clear, we will not place ads on view item pages.
Note that he mentions placements where no search results are found (null results) BUT ALSO says "testing some sponsored search ads for complementary products and services..."
The fact that he's talking about complementary implies that he's talking about in a non-null situation...in a null situation, the ads could be for the actual product being searched.....what he's saying is, that in non-mull situations, the ads should be for complementary items (rather than items that actually match up with the search term and thus compete with the ebay items)
I think it's obvious to everyone that in some cases, ads are showing up for competitive products. If you read the auctionbytes article and England's statements there it looks to me like ebay is trying to figure out how best to prevent that from happening....obviously, Yahoo is not always displaying what should be displayed, and I think ebay will be working on trying to ensure complimentary ads will show.
My impression is that text ads are here to stay, but that steps will likely be taken to try to rein in ads that directly compete with ebay sellers.
.
huc** Jun-01-07 00:05 PDT 4 of
IPT, i have to hand it to you. if (as you have repeatedly claimed) you are indeed not a paid company shill, then you are without a single doubt ebay incorporated's greatest unsung trench soldier.
march on drummer boy, as long as it turns your crank.
huckster3000
DEAD END DRIVE-IN DVD
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 00:17 PDT 5 of
The Big Sell Out is ON
Actually all search results are showing competing ads now. I don't think there is any effort to show complimentary items at all. We have been sold out!
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=dial+soap&category0=
Furthermore, now we know why ebay changed the user agreement to take possession of everyones content posted to listings, wikis and blogs on the site. About a week ago if you did not cancel your account you gave ebay exclusive right to your content posted on ebay. Now ebay is free to monetize on your content without sharing the revenue with you! What a deal for ebay! Ebay grabs a million blog and wiki posts and sticks yahoo ads all over them. Then uses Stumbleupon to drive force traffic to that content.
The Stumbleupon purchase now makes since if a stumbler is forced when stumbling to visit the "relevant" ebay wikis and blogs that ebay now owns every tenth stumble, and occasionally showing a relevant merchandise search page once in a while. All the while the little guys writing the content and trying to make some money here get royally screwed.
daz** Jun-01-07 00:20 PDT 6 of
hey all you night stalkers - relax - it's all just a big joke - a joke on you and me - soooo glad I was already leary of ebay before the wiki and blog carp - never did by into those
pos** Jun-01-07 00:22 PDT 7 of
Ebay grabs a million blog and wiki posts and sticks yahoo ads all over them
I saw through that one day one.
I never even filled in my My World page...and would never ever right a blog, wiki or review on an Ebay page.
All that content stuff is what made me realize I needed my own website so I could use those type things to drive traffic elsewhere.
I paid Ebay to drive traffic to me...not to pay them and drive traffic to them so they could divert it away from me.
That just never made much sense from my viewpoint.
neg** Jun-01-07 00:33 PDT 8 of
gone2 - I don't see the competing ads on any of the links you posted. Has Firefox blocked them or is seeing them part of a test?
I remember when Vendio tried the Yahoo ads - at first all of them were about p*nil* implants and Viagara etc....users had to really make a big fuss to get them to stop those kinds of ads. At the time Vendio said that Yahoo was supposed to filter the types of ads displayed - I just noticed that the ads aren't on the site anymore.
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 00:46 PDT 9 of
I noticed it looks like ebay knows they were caught. The dial soap and X2 Sponsored Ads are gone now. Like last year as soon as they are posted to the forums ebay will pull them down I caught a screenie of the trek ads at the bottom of the search results for trek bikes:
http://vps298.leeware.com/images/trk.jpg
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 00:47 PDT 10 of
Whoops here it is inline:
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 00:59 PDT 11 of
Here is another screenie I did 10 independent searches and all show the competing ads, here is a sceenie from one such search. I invite others to post screenshots documenting this as well as it is too easy for ebay to pull down the offending links in an effort to discredit the posts. Here is a certain search for ipods:
As I said seller's remeber this issue in Boston! Let Cobb have it!
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 01:00 PDT 12 of
I can't remember how to type remember tonight : )
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 01:09 PDT 13 of
Here is a screenie of the X2 search above note that every single ad is for a competing offsite merchant nothing "complimentary about it":
I think we should demand either a share of the revenue or an immediate fee cut!
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 01:14 PDT 14 of
Some of the offsite merchants in the ads picture above:
MSN Shopping (can you believe it!)
Tiger Direct
Become.com (comparison search engine)
Best Buy (not competitve at all!!!)
Shop.com
Yahoo Shopping (no surprise)
Apple Store
JR Music
Smarter.com (comparison search engine)
What is ebay thinking!!!
oce** Jun-01-07 03:48 PDT 15 of
in some of my china (dinnerware) searches, I've seen competing ads for:
Macys.com
fir** Jun-01-07 04:11 PDT 16 of
This isn't the first time this has happened. Probably won't be the last either. There is a solution to this, you know? Pay for Yahoo! ads for your own webstore. Much cheaper than eBay fees. I personally don't, but I do regularly get clicks into my stores through these same type of ads from international eBay sites - which rely on Google's Adsense. In fact, i get far more clicks from those ads that I EVER got from having a link on my ME page, even when I would run 200+ simultaneous auctions with big old links to my ME page in the description and my email address spelled out in large fonts (me @ mydomain dot com).
eBay will probably keep doing this until the uproar from sellers gets too loud. Why wouldn't they? After all this is free revenue for them. eBay has proven repeatedly that management doesn't care where the revenue comes from, insertion & FVF's, Paypal fees, ad revenue, hijacked accounts, global terrorists, drug cartels, e-fencers, etc. And now with the expansion of eBay Inc. away from an online auction house, they care even less about the sellers.
itsposting - I still don't believe that you aren't on the eBay payroll.
jac** Jun-01-07 04:39 PDT 17 of
they care even less about the sellers
I agree and ebay has a proven track record.
myg** Jun-01-07 04:39 PDT 18 of
I wouldn't even mind the off-ebay ads showing up in the searches IF eBay would put the Store back in searches where they belong.
UNBELIEVABLE that they won't show their own products in search but will show ads to drive people off eBay.
What kind of people are running eBay????????
FRUITY KITTY
and DARTH VADER KITTY
(Founding Felines)
tat** Jun-01-07 04:41 PDT 19 of
What kind of people are running eBay????????
Do we really want to know the answer to that question???? 
coc** Jun-01-07 04:45 PDT 20 of
I clicked on the link in the opening post. This is what I see:
coc** Jun-01-07 04:58 PDT 21 of
And here is the dial soap:
firemeg (12 ) Jun-01-07 05:05 PDT 22 of
Wow, I haven't seen that one yet.
That's more than a slap in the face to sellers. That a ____ in the _____.
coc** Jun-01-07 05:10 PDT 23 of
I don't know why I am presented with this type of view. Been trying to figure it out for over a week. First time I saw it I could not even begin to believe it was true. T & S board suggested I had a computer virus????
They are pretty consistent though, but with IE it typically only shows the list of sponsored links, not these thumbnails that take one directly down the river. Too wierd.
coc** Jun-01-07 05:16 PDT 24 of
Here is the trek:
tur** Jun-01-07 05:46 PDT 25 of
This is absolutely ridicoulus. The own stores as a link so small that you need a magnifying glass to see it, but gallery picture listings from competitor sites.
I feel insulted and used.
Soldier Turtle Georgy, proud member of the fruit helmet club
roc** Jun-01-07 06:23 PDT 26 of
Yeah, stores barely get a blip on the map. I guess Ebay considers our money too insignificant---not the direction Ebay wants to go.
coc** Jun-01-07 06:26 PDT 27 of
Perhaps they should include this at the bottom of their sponsored links:
Participants in these 'outside-of-eBay' transactions lose their ability to use eBay purchase protection programs and feedback.
Found that on another page, but they ought to use it.
sli** Jun-01-07 08:49 PDT 28 of
You'se keep alluding to itsposting....
Hear Ye, hear ye: That ain't no other than the inimitable Brain Chemicals, reincarnated.
bla** Jun-01-07 09:14 PDT 29 of
Wondered what happened to BC, but how can you be sure about that?
blo** Jun-01-07 09:46 PDT 30 of
Yeah I've noticed all the ads..load of carp!
Why does store fees keep going up but we get no exposure!
~
myg** Jun-01-07 10:14 PDT 31 of
What we need is an eBay NEW HIRE - one who doesn't know about Stores. One who thinks "Ebay Stores would be a great idea... One who say "I am so glad I thought of it" .... let me mention it to the new eBay management ...Management says GREAT Idea that you StumbledUpon... Management decides to make an Offer to Buy EBAY STORES! ... not realizing they already owned them ... they just couldn't see them.
End of Story
FRUITY KITTY
and DARTH VADER KITTY
(Founding Felines)
cho** Jun-01-07 11:52 PDT 32 of
What you need to do is say you will boycott every major advertiser that shows up there
We're potty trained, but we don't have to be
.
.
.
cho** Jun-01-07 11:54 PDT 33 of
Start talking smack about dat lending tree. ebay might not care about what we think, but those advertisers are hoping all us millions of buyers AND sellers are gonna want to click them. We are lead generation for them. It's like having a stripper pole next to your church! They are dirtying up my park!
We're potty trained, but we don't have to be
.
.
.
gon** Jun-01-07 11:58 PDT 34 of
Firemeg has picked this up on his/her blog:
http://www.firemeg.com/blog.html
pos** Jun-01-07 12:02 PDT 35 of
With Firefox you can not only get an addon that enables gallery pix on ALLLLLL listings (even the store ones at the bottom and those where seller didn't pay Ebay the blackmail fees to show up), but you can also get the adblock addon.
One right click on any of those banner ads and they are gone forever.
i wonder if it will work on the smaller ones? I'm not in the test group and haven't seen them on my searches so I can't test it.
aga** Jun-01-07 13:05 PDT 36 of
I paid Ebay to drive traffic to me...not to pay them and drive traffic to them so they could divert it away from me.
That just never made much sense from my viewpoint.
Very well said!!! I think I am going to be sick. How utterly callous of upper management. I hope they all rot in he!!. They are the scumbags of the earth. I am so angry!! If I could afford to go to eBay live, I would take those morons by the throat and snap their necks off. What a-holes.
san** Jun-01-07 14:09 PDT 37 of
I was looking for a wholesale lot of something recently when the banner ads popped up for what I needed from my search. DIRECT competition for an Ebay item and sadly I have to say I purchased (BOO! HISS!) from the banner ad company because I could get a better price than from the Ebay seller. Never would have known they existed without the banner ads trumpeting the companies. SO Bill Cobb you speak with "forked tongue". There were probably 6 Ebay sellers on that search but the two banner ads that came up were both better deals. Maybe I should go back and email the sellers involved to tell them to personally thank Bill Cobb for costing them the sales.
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 14:40 PDT 38 of
bump
pos** Jun-01-07 14:47 PDT 39 of
sandrarn, if the banner ads don't get your attention then the little light bulb telling you not to waste your time on the silly auctions but to go straight to express where you can get it new (BIG LIE) and get it now will.
Between banners and EE ads its no wonder things are so bad in the stores and core right now.
san** Jun-01-07 15:04 PDT 40 of
You are correct postcardsandmore. That's why after a year of proclaiming I would never go into Express I did so. I had to play Ebay's game to neutralize the advantages they are giving Express sellers/items. It of course didn't hurt that I was also specifically eyeballing those customers as lucrative new buyers for my website. They fit the demographics and target buyers perfectly. I absolutely hate Express. I hate every part about it but decided I was going to do it the Ebay way. I am going to use Ebay to make my business bigger and better and not allow Ebay to be the only parasite in this relationship.
The really sad part is my Express sales are skyrocketing as part of my overall sales figures.
pos** Jun-01-07 15:38 PDT 41 of
That's not sad...lol. That's great (until ebay starts charging for the privilege of being included).
I tried opting into EE as well before closing up shop but it didn't help. I have yet to have one single EE sale and I was opted in for several months including May 1 to May 17th when I gave up.
coc** Jun-01-07 15:50 PDT 42 of
Clicking on the fourth search string in post #5 (nicad batteries) I see this:
Looks like they got confused and are using a best match smart search or something with the sponsored links section .....LOL! Those things likely use Nicads...but.....we can shop directly someplace else...Isn't that nice of eBay to offer that to us? (not)
coc** Jun-01-07 16:00 PDT 43 of
And clicking on the last search link....eBay will let you know some great place to get your pez dispensers:
Thanks, Bill...from all your sellers!!!!
coc** Jun-01-07 16:08 PDT 44 of
If you will notice, the "pez" screen shot shows that I was on page one of 49........
I do not have a store anymore. I am, and have been a seller since 1998. This is insulting at the very least.
gone2deriver (0 ) Jun-01-07 16:23 PDT 45 of
Digg your disgust with this:
http://digg.com/tech_news/Want_to_Buy_a_Pez_Dispenser_Ebay_Says_Go_Buy_it_on_Amazon
coc** Jun-01-07 16:27 PDT 46 of
Feel free to snag my picture.
coc** Jun-01-07 19:19 PDT 47 of
Bill didn't LIE...I believe the term on eBay is called "mis-spoke" now.
huc** Jun-01-07 19:52 PDT 48 of
Digg your disgust with this:
http://digg.com/tech_news/Want_to_Buy_a_Pez_Dispenser_Ebay_Says_Go_Buy_it_on_Amazon
consider it dugg. although i think the average digger would fall pretty squarely in the "ebay is past passe" camp. but, you know, whatever. never hurts to try.
i have to say that this has been one heck of page-turner of a thread so far. i can't begin to imagine what e-inc is even thinking at this point. it's a real mind scramble. but nice work, gone2 et. al.
huckster3000
DEAD END DRIVE-IN DVD
designasquare (0 ) Jun-01-07 20:59 PDT 49 of
The time has officially come when ebay became a ho. Oh well, see how fast this ship is sinking? Lower and faster than ever.
bhe** Jun-01-07 22:48 PDT 50 of
I saved this eBay announcement which was posted on June 3, 2000. I think it's still relevant.
User: [email protected]
Date: 06/03/00
Time: 08:56:48 PDT
***ADS ON EBAY***
eBay Community,
Over the last several months we have gradually increased the frequency and
placement of various advertisements on eBay. You may have wondered why we
are doing this.
Last year, we recognized that we had to vastly increase investment in our
technology and our customer support infrastructure to support the needs of
our growing community. We also recognized that we had to bring more people
to the eBay marketplace and we continue to do so through strategic
partnerships and marketing initiatives such as AOL and Disney/Go.com. These
investments have been substantial, expensive and necessary.
As you may also know, eBay is one of the few online businesses that has
consistently believed that a profitable business model is important for any
company that wishes to remain a viable company for the long-term. We also
believe this philosophy makes sense to our community so that you know we
will be around for you and that we will always provide you with a fair and
consistent level of service.
We need to support the additional costs of the continuous and substantial
investments in our technology, customer support and in our marketing
initiatives. We only have a few ways to generate revenue, including
increasing fees, developing strategic relationships and by selling
advertisements. We believe that additional advertisement sales are the best
way to raise revenue at this time.
You may have noticed the placement of ads on eBay in Listings, Search and
other areas of the site. Many of you have expressed concern about the
placement of ads on individual Item pages. We would like to reiterate that
although we may place links to our co-brand partners on the Item pages of
co-branded sites, such as eBay Motors, we will not place ads on active Item
pages of eBay.com.
We are also concerned about the types of advertisements on eBay and we look
for companies that provide services and products that do not directly
compete with products sold by eBay sellers. However, as the breadth of
products and services offered by our seller's increases, some advertisers'
products will naturally overlap with those of our sellers. We are conscious
of this and we will continue to attempt to minimize this overlap.
We have also been trying to ensure that the content of the ads is
appropriate for both eBay and our users. Recently, we heard from some of you
that the recent ads were "product ads" that directly competed with products
that you were selling. After hearing your feedback on these ads, we have
made a few changes and want to inform you of them.
First, we have made the ads less specific when tied to Search. For example,
if a user searched using the word "toaster", an ad including the word
toaster would have appeared. This, we agree, does not benefit you, and we
have discontinued that practice. However, if you search using the word
"toaster", an ad for an appliance or home product may appear, but not a
specific competing product ad.
Second, a number of you expressed concerns that Double-Click was using
cookies to serve ads that determined the type of ad you would view.
Double-Click provided us the option to include a cookie, but we chose to NOT
include the cookie.
We at eBay have always strived to do things hand in hand with you, our
users. In the coming months, we plan to try other advertisements to generate
the revenue needed to support the infrastructure for eBay's growing
community. As always, we encourage you to share your thoughts with us on
what eBay can do to make advertising work on the site. Please feel free to
email your suggestions to [email protected] and to include "Quality Support"
in the subject line.
We understand that we have a long way to go. But we believe that these first
steps will help us achieve our goals as a sound business while providing you
with the quality service that our community deserves.
Regards,
eBay
cho** Jun-01-07 23:12 PDT 51 of
Quality and support. All the money in the world can't buy that! LOL
buz** Jun-01-07 23:51 PDT 52 of
This may be an over simplification but I don't see a
lot of difference between the new sponsor ads and featured
auctions.
In both cases the seller is paying for premium exposure
at a premium price.
I had to turn my ad filter off to even see them.
And from a buyers perspective...I didn't see any sponsor
ads which looked more promising than the liquidation
prices on eBay.
firemeg (12 ) Jun-02-07 01:47 PDT 53 of
We only have a few ways to generate revenue, including
increasing fees, developing strategic relationships and by selling advertisements.
The geniuses forgot about:
1. Increasing listing volume.
2. Increasing average selling price.
3. Increasing sell-through rates.
4. Charging for every service under the sun.
This may be an over simplification but I don't see a
lot of difference between the new sponsor ads and featured
auctions. In both cases the seller is paying for premium exposure at a premium price.
Over-simplification, no. Just sort of wrong. A featured listing costs $15+ per 1,3,5,7 or 10 days. Premium price, not so premium exposure (ever shrinking homepage ads box for featured listings for one). While Yahoo! ads can be purchased starting at a few cents per click or per 1000 impressions. With any type of ad service like Yahoo! or Google, your ad shows up all over the web, whereas w/ featured eBay listings, your items show up only on eBay.com.
If this ad program flies, look for eBay to show another quarter full of profit and revenue growth. When this happens, it doesn't matter what state the site is in, wall street will smile, even if it means increased fraud, lower traffic, lower listing volume and seller attrition.
coc** Jun-02-07 04:57 PDT 54 of
Thank you bhearch for that 'announcement'. As for toasters however, apparently eBay has decided that a direct approach is best now in 2007 with regards to "Westinghouse toasters":
Surprisingly enough a TITLE search for "antique toaster" yeilded 49 results, 17 did not have 'antique' in the title at all. I was shown what eBay thought I wanted to see I suppose. The sponsored links in that search were for "toaster knobs" from various websites other than eBay.
spo** Jun-02-07 05:24 PDT 55 of
I find it unbelievable what I have read here and have seen on the screen shots. All of us know how hard it is getting traffic. Most of the time when I search my items on ebay, they are no long found unless I type EXACTLY what the title is.
IE: the word autograph or auto or signed.
If only one of those words are combined with the players name, only one will show up if at all.
Seems to me if the players name has ANY of those 3 words, the listing would show up.
Is this new advertising you show here, is that catagory specific? I don't see any ads like that under the sports catagory.
As far as EE, I have been off and on since it started. I have been more on than off of EE but have NOT had one sale....I can find most of my listings there either, unless I search by my ebay ID.
Keep working to get out of ebay but I am still making a profit. Even though we complain, ebay still gets more hits than any other auction site.
The few other auction sites I have tried have proved very little traffic if any at all.
tat** Jun-02-07 06:06 PDT 56 of
Bill didn't LIE...I believe the term on eBay is called "mis-spoke" now.
Can I buy the eBay thesaurus anywhere on ebay? Or is it called the double-speak translation guide?
I just want to make sure I know what they mean by what they say.
aga** Jun-02-07 06:42 PDT 57 of
I find it unbelievable what I have read here and have seen on the screen shots. All of us know how hard it is getting traffic. Most of the time when I search my items on ebay, they are no long found unless I type EXACTLY what the title is.
It kind of struck me that maybe eBay wants people to search each individual category, and not search by title. If that is the case, it might force people to list in more than one category. That gives eBay an additional listing fee. I always try to look for the most sinister reasons for why eBay does what it does.
additional listing fee. I always try to look for the most sinister reasons for why eBay does what it does.
coc** Jun-02-07 06:50 PDT 58 of
"it might force people to list in more than one category."
You could list your Pez dispenser or toaster in as many categories as you choose. The fact remains that your customers are provided the links to shop on the competitive sites.
aga** Jun-02-07 07:09 PDT 59 of
You could list your Pez dispenser or toaster in as many categories as you choose. The fact remains that your customers are provided the links to shop on the competitive sites.
That is correct. eBay will make money on your double listing fees (which gives you a better chance to be found), as well as money from the ads that take you off the eBay site. If we do not find what we want with keyword searches, and instead must search by categories, eBay has a much better chance to make money on the ads they are putting in your listings. More items looked at by the buyer, and the more they click on the ads, the better it is for eBay.
Of course, I am assuming eBay makes something on the prospective buyers actually clicking on the ads. I could be wrong about that.
zek**Jun-02-07 11:37 PDT 60 of
Look to the Right Side...
this pic is from a Search in September 2006:
oldklutz (2663 ) Jun-02-07 12:25 PDT 61 of
Isn't a comparison supposed to show it is less expensive here? IF it is doing that then it won't drive anyone anywhere else to get it. Most of the sites people already know about anyway.
Some people are like Slinkies. They're really good for nothing, but they still bring a smile
//
//
//
/*
Technorati Profile
EventHorizon1984 Log
//