Fri Jan 11 2013 22:12:05 |
eBay Ads Send Shoppers to Staples
By: Ina Steiner
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On Friday afternoon, I came across an ad on an eBay Item page for retail chain store Staples. What was most remarkable about the ad was that it led directly from an eBay seller's product listing to an item for sale on the Staples website, complete with a Staples "add to cart" button.
The single ad actually featured three different products, each with a link directly to a product page on Staples. The ad included a picture of each product along with the price and an "order now" button for each product.
I clicked on the "order now" button for a package of magnets, and it took me to the product page on Staples where I could see more information and click on the Add to Cart button.
I went back to eBay to see if any sellers offered the magnets for sale, and there were three listings for multi-packs. The other two items for sale in the ad were a Rolodex Pink Ribbon Faux Leather Journal and a V-Light Gooseneck Halogen Desk Lamp, Black, and the ad also linked directly to those product listing pages on Staples.
I've seen plenty of ads on eBay Item pages, many for eBay "house ads" or for brands such as Verizon, but not ads that take shoppers directly to another product listing on a competitor's site.
In May, eBay spokesperson Johnna Hoff said the ads that had begun appearing on Item pages would be almost exclusively in the realm of brand advertising "meant to increase awareness of popular, reputable brands and cement in buyers' minds that eBay is a trusted shopping destination." She said the purpose of the ads was not to compete with sellers, but rather, to bring additional value to the View Item page.
eBay has been running ads on eBay UK since 2010 that do direct shoppers to other retail websites, including Fab, Hayneedle, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon - and Staples.
The ad I saw today takes eBay's hosted advertising to a whole new level. Let us know what you think and if you've spotted such ads on your listings. |
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