eBay Inserts Live Auctions, FAQs, Goldin in Search

If you haven't searched eBay lately, you may be surprised to see what the marketplace is inserting into the search results page. Specifically, searching collectibles-related terms brings back listings interspersed not only with display ads, promoted listings, and promoted shops - but new sections as well.

A reader noticed a section featuring eBay Live auction events that began appearing a few days ago with no explanation. "On various item searches, the items found will be displayed in rows, then there will appear a row of "live auctions", in this case, all from the same seller." The seller noticed the eBay Live events featured in results had different start times.

A search for "Pokemon" on Monday evening ("7,300,000+ results for pokemon") came back with a Promoted Store ad for an eBay store called Poke Unlimited at the top, followed by a banner for "Shop eBay Live events."

After five listings (of which one was a promoted listing), there was another section advertising listings on eBay subsidiary Goldin Auctions ("Find it on Goldin Your trusted source for rare collectible auctions"). Clicking on the first listing in the carousel opened a new browser tab open on the Goldin.co website. The URL on eBay (https://goldin.co/sn/GHQ10281916?

utm_source=ebay&utm_medium=organic&utm_

campaign=ebay_srp_carousel) redirected to a URL on Goldin (https://goldin.co/item/2025-pokemon-prismatic-evolutions-

factory-sealed-surprise-box-collectiha0uy).

Another feature in search results showcases eBay's AI capabilities. A very broad search for the term "first editions" brought back a display ad for Venmo followed by listings ("4,500,000+ results for first editions"). After the 17th listing for collectible books (of which 6 of the 17 were sponsored listings), there was a special section featuring FAQs - "Questions you may have, answered with eBay.ai." The three FAQs were as follows:

What defines a book as a 'first edition'?

How does the condition of a first edition impact its desirability?

What are key features to look for in first edition covers?

(Above: Screenshot of portion of eBay search results page featuring a section containing AI-generated FAQs.)

It would be interesting to know what triggers these special AI FAQs in search results - in this case, it may have been the general nature of the search term.

Let us know how well you think AI generated the FAQs and what you think of these features that appear in eBay search results. Are you seeing any other features, and do they help or hurt the buying and selling experience?

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