eBay's Attribution Double Standard: Promoted Listings General Ads Vs Ambassador Affiliate Program
As sellers continue passionate pushback against eBay's new Promoted Listings General ad attribution policies, one savvy observer notes differences compared to Ambassador affiliate program.
eBay is making major changes to Promoted Listings General Cost Per Sale ad attribution for the US and Canada in 2026, massively expanding the number of sales which will collect ad fees as revenue generating desperation grows.
Liz Morton
The new model mirrors updates rolled out in Germany in February and UK, Australia, France, Italy and Spain in June, stating General cost per sale ad fees will be assessed for any sale where any user clicked on the promoted version of an item - even if that isn't the person who ultimately ends up making the purchase!
Sellers have been vehemently pushing back against this latest cash grab, including at a recent Seller Circle event where eBay Ads personnel were on hand to explain the new policy, facing pointed questions about how the company justifies the new policy - and their answers revealed interesting information about how Promoted Listings ads may impact onsite Organic search placement and traffic as well.
Liz Morton
eBay Ads Senior Product Marketing Manager, Kye Mou, said the company is "recalibrating" the price of Promoted Listings ads with the new attribution model to more accurately reflect the connection that Promoted Listings performance can have on Organic, non-promoted performance.
What Rishi is talking about is actually the connection between promoted listings and non-promoted or organic listings, right?
Which is to say the clicks and the sales that a seller gets from a promoted listing inherently benefits the overall performance of the listing even from an organic perspective.
So the algorithms that we use for ranking take multiple factors into consideration. One of them being historical performance. So, as you use ads and as those ads help your listings boost higher up in search and show up in other highly visible places, they are accruing performance history.
So when you say there's no longer any connection, I don't fundamentally believe that is accurate, because there is a connection between historical performance of your paid listing and your organic listing.
Basically eBay's argument is that because clicks on Promoted Ads give a listing a boost in the Best Match algorithm that may benefit Organic performance as well, sellers historically haven't been paying for the full "value" ads provide.
So they believe this new model, which divorces the click on the ad from the eventual sale while still allowing for a 30 day window (as long as the item is still in an ad campaign), makes the price sellers pay for Promoted Listings more accurately reflect the value eBay says these ads provide.
But one seller in the eBay community forum, my-cottage-books-and-antiques, was not convinced by this rationale, pointing out that eBay treats attribution for their eBay Partner Network and Ambassador affiliate programs very differently from Promoted Listings ads in what seems to be a glaring double standard.
Re: eBay Seller Circle Virtual Event November 11
I've mentioned this before : ebay's Ambassador Store affiliate program means I can send a buyer to an ebay listing, and if that buyer buys the item, ebay pays me an affiliate fee (basically, an "ad" fee).
What connection does ebay think is reasonable. in this case? Well, first of course, there must be a trackable link , so ebay can see that it was my Ambassador Store that brought him to the item. And then he must buy it , not within 30 days, but within 24 hours.
So, OK, that is a pretty clear "connection" between my affiliate "ad" and the sale.
Now, if someone clicks on the ebay item from my store but doesn't buy it, do I collect an affiliate fee 30 days later when someone else buys it because, hey, that click from my affiliate store was counted by the algo and that might have given the listing a bump which maybe helped it to be seen by the ultimate buyer 30 days later?
If I made that argument to the ebay affiliate team, they'd laugh me out of their office. But here we are, pretending a random "click" constitutes a "connection" to the sale.
eBay introduced the Ambassador program earlier this year, allowing buyers, sellers, content creators and influencers to earn up to 7.5% commission for promoting select listings - in essence, eBay is paying these affiliates to advertise items across social media, blogs, or other locations and/or in their Ambassador storefronts on eBay.
Liz Morton
And as my-cottage-books-and-antiques points out, eBay only provides a 24 hour attribution window for clicks on affiliate links.
Here's how eBay defines a "qualifying transaction" for eBay Partner Network and Ambassador affiliates:
A Qualifying Transaction occurs when (1) an end user makes a purchase within 24 hours after clicking your link for a “Buy It Now” item, (2) an end user places a bid on an “Auction” item within 24 hours after clicking your link and wins that auction within 10 days, or (3) a "Best Offer" that was submitted within 24 hours after clicking your link is accepted.
And here's the example they give for how that attribution is applied:
Gwen visited your site looking to compare toaster ovens. She noticed the ad you have for a highly-recommended Breville and clicked through your link to eBay. Your cookie is now on her computer.
She looks at a few options on eBay, opens a new browser to Amazon, and shops a few department store websites. The eBay deal appeals to her with its low price of $199.99 and free shipping, but she's not yet ready to buy. She closes her browser, shuts off her computer, and has dinner.
The next morning, she's decided: She'll spurge and get it. She boots up her computer, launches her browser, goes to eBay, finds the toaster oven presented to her by eBay which is showing her recently viewed items. She clicks and buys.
That's a qualifying transaction for you! She has made a purchase with 24 hours. The item is one that pays commissions.
Contrast that to new Promoted Listings General ad attribution policy which states:
eBay will report an Attributed sale from a general campaign when a buyer purchases the same item that was featured in the ad that was clicked on by any buyer in the most recent 30 days.
The ad fee is charged when a buyer purchases the promoted item from a general ad that any buyer clicked on in the most recent 30 days.
The item must be promoted at the time of click and the time of sale. The ad fee is based on the ad rate in effect at the time of the sale.
So we can see that when eBay is the one paying the advertising fee to affiliates, they use an extremely short attribution window and require there to be a direct connection between the click on the affiliate link and the eventual sale
However, when sellers are paying Promoted Listings ad fees to eBay, eBay uses a completely different set of rules, granting themselves 30 days to collect ad fees and not requiring any direct connection between a click on an ad and the eventual sale for fees to be assessed.
Promoted Listings General is obviously separate from eBay Partner Network and Ambassador programs, with each having their own terms of service and user agreements.
But it's understandable why sellers who use both programs would question the ethics of this glaring attribution double standard - not to mention the appearance of self-preferencing and potential conflicts of interest inherent in eBay playing both sides of the advertising market.
Sellers who are concerned about how eBay's new ad policies will impact their businesses you are encouraged to report unethical, unfair or deceptive business practices to the Federal Trade Commission.
Don't be thrown off by the FTC form and website mentioning fraud - you can select "unfair/deceptive business practices" as the reason for your report and then give details about why you believe eBay's ad practices should be investigated.
Sellers can also contact their State Attorney General's offices and/or consumer protection divisions - if you don't know who to contact for your specific state, you can find that information:
Pro Tips For Reporting eBay's Ad Practices
You are protected: The FTC does not share identities of those who file reports and you can request confidentiality in reports to AG's offices as well - tell them "I have an active eBay seller account” and request anonymity if you have concerns about retaliation.
Stay calm and factual: regulators notice transparency issues before they notice outrage. Provide as much detailed data as possible about the estimated impact these changes will have on your specific business.
Support and encourage fellow sellers: encourage other sellers who will be affected to also file their own reports.
Share examples of your reports either privately or publicly to help others navigate the process and feel more comfortable with advocating for themselves and others.
Remember, the more sellers who file, the more reasons the FTC and other authorities will have to possibly investigate and act.
Beyond that, I'm currently working on other potential actions sellers can take to pushback against eBay's ad attribution overreach.
If you are an active eBay seller who is willing to go on the record about how these changes will impact your business, I'd love to speak with you! Contact VAR
