eBay Tightens Affiliate Rules, Cracking Down On AI Use, NDAs & Influencer Disclosures
eBay is cracking down on prohibited uses of AI, confidentiality agreements, and disclosure requirements for marketers and influencers in latest update to eBay Partner Network affiliate program terms.
The following summary of changes was provided in an email sent to users:
We recently updated the eBay Partner Network Agreement (“Network Agreement”) and the Affiliate Disclosure requirements, which will be effective as of January 26, 2026.
The updates add clarifying language to the following areas:
Network Agreement
- Prohibited AI Uses: Outlined restrictions on the use of eBay Data with AI, machine learning, foundation models, LLMs, and generative AI, including requirements for prior written approval and strict data protection safeguards.
- Confidentiality: Updated definitions and mutual obligations related to EPN and Partner Confidential Information, permitted use, disclosure restrictions, and the duration of confidentiality obligations.
Affiliate Disclosure
- Video and Visual Disclosures: Further defined requirements for affiliate disclosures in video content, including placement within the video, visibility without clicking “Show more,” and proximity to affiliate links.
- U.S. Visual Disclosure Requirements: Reinforced expectations for clear and conspicuous disclosures within video content and accompanying descriptions.
As always, sellers are encouraged to read the entire updated terms carefully, but Value Added Resource has you covered with a side by side comparison highlighting some key changes.
Disclaimer: comparisons are made using both automated and manual methods and are provided for informational purposes only - no warranty of completeness or accuracy is expressed or implied and users are advised to do their own due diligence.
Prohibited AI Uses
A new section has been added to the eBay Partner Network (EPN) terms laying out explicit ways in which the use of AI is prohibited.
Prohibited AI Uses
In no event will Partner (or Partner affiliates, subcontractors, or retained third parties) use any eBay Data for the purpose of training, pre-training, fine tuning, adapting, benchmarking, testing, validating or otherwise improving in any way a Supplier or third-party machine-based system that is designed to operate with varying levels of autonomy and that may exhibit adaptiveness after deployment, and that, for explicit or implicit objectives, infers, from the input it receives, how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations, or decisions that can influence physical or virtual environments.Supplier will not input or expose eBay Data to any foundation model, LLM, or generative AI service except with eBay’s prior written approval and only under a written contract with the AI provider that (i) prohibits training, retention (beyond transient processing), and disclosure, (ii) requires environmental segregation of eBay Data and prevents learning/persistence in model weights, and (iii) requires prompt deletion after processing.
This follows yesterday's general eBay User Agreement update which also provided new explicit limitation and prohibitions around the use of AI, making it clear the company is highly concerned about the ways AI agents and scrappers may be interacting with their site.
Liz Morton
Confidentiality
eBay has also updated the confidentiality section of the EPN terms to go in both directions, designating what constitutes confidential information subject to non-disclosure agreements for the company and the EPN account holder.
Old version:
Confidentiality: Any information relating to EPN or Advertisers that EPN provides or make accessible to you in connection with the Network or any Program that is not known to the general public or that reasonably should be considered to be confidential is EPN’s “Confidential Information” and will remain EPN’s exclusive property.
You will use Confidential Information only to the extent reasonably necessary for your performance under this Agreement and ensure that all persons or entities who have access to Confidential Information in connection with your account will be made aware of and will comply with the obligations in this provision.
New version:
Confidentiality: Any information relating to EPN or Advertisers that EPN provides or make accessible to you in connection with the Network or any Program that is not known to the general public or that reasonably should be considered to be confidential is EPN’s “Confidential Information” and will remain EPN’s exclusive property.
Any information You provide to EPN not known to the general public or that reasonably should be considered confidential shall be Your “Confidential Information”.
Both Parties will use Confidential Information only to the extent reasonably necessary for performance under this Agreement and ensure that all persons or entities who have access to Confidential Information in connection with your account will be made aware of and will comply with the obligations in this provision.
Affiliate Disclosures
eBay is giving affiliates more specific guidance and requirements around ad disclosures for video content.
For example, stating where disclosures must be placed and that they must not be obscured or bured.
Old Version:
Disclosure on video ads must be embedded in video, and should appear in text that is easily noticed, read, and understood along with audio that is easily followed and understood by “reasonable” consumers.
New Version:
Disclosure on video ads must be embedded in video, and should appear in text that is easily noticed, read, and understood along with audio that is easily followed and understood by “reasonable” consumers.
Affiliate disclosures must also be placed at the beginning of the accompanying description or in close proximity to the affiliate link, and must be visible without requiring users to click “Show more.” Disclosures should appear before or at the time of the endorsement and must not be obscured or buried.
They've also added additional platforms to the list of where content creators must also comply with disclosure requirements of those platforms.
Old version:
Content creators/influencers must comply with disclosure requirements provided by:
- Social Media Platform(s) such as TikTok or Instagram
New version:
Content creators/influencers must comply with disclosure requirements provided by:
- Social Media Platform(s) such as TikTok or Instagram , YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat or Pinterest.
One has to wonder if eBay may have recently started receiving regulatory warnings or pressure to clean up their affiliate disclosure practices, which have been blurring lines for years.
Liz Morton
The shift to additional clarity and transparency could also be being driven by eBay's recent announcement that they are expanding on-site Promoted Stores cost per click advertising products to include "influencer-led pages" that are part of the eBay Ambassador affiliate program.
Liz Morton
Once eBay begins monetizing this offering to bring additional ad revenue into the company, rather than simply paying out commissions to affiliates, they could face even more regulatory and legal scrutiny of their advertising and affiliate practices.
