eBay added Automatic and Manual optimization to Promoted Offsite, its pay-per-click program for ads on Google, Facebook, and other sites, letting sellers prioritize or deprioritize listings by price, category, condition, days listed, and quantity, according to Value Added Resource. However, deprioritized listings can still be advertised, and sellers can’t exclude listings, set maximum bids, or split their budget between the two groups. eBay also uses AI to rewrite listing titles for the off-site ads, and the setup screens offer no way to review the rewrites or turn them off. Sellers pay for every click whether or not a sale follows, and eBay can spend as much as double a seller’s daily budget on a given day.
