Promoted Listings Advanced FAQ

What is Promoted Listings Advanced ?

Promoted Listings Advanced is a cost-per-click campaign type that lets sellers drive traffic to their listings with preferred access to the top slot of search using keyword and budget controls.

Which sellers are eligible for Promoted Listings Advanced?

Promoted Listings Advanced is currently in a small beta that is invite-only for sellers on the US, UK DE, IT, or AU sites.

Why should I use Promoted Listings Advanced?

Promoted Listings Advanced gives you the high visibility you want and the control you need to increase sales on eBay.
Advanced campaigns currently let you bid for the top slot in search with control over your daily budget, keyword selection, and keyword bids.
For sellers looking to gain more insight into performance metrics, Promoted Listings Advanced also provides listing-level, keyword-level, and search query reports to help you monitor your performance.

Which listings are eligible for Promoted Listings Advanced?

Sellers can promote fixed price listings for most categories except Wholesale & Job Lots, Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles, Events Tickets, Property, E-Cigarettes, Vapes & Accs and Everything Else categories. Auction and Auction Buy It Now listings are not eligible at this time.
When you create an Advanced campaign, only listings that are eligible will appear in your selection view.

How does Promoted Listings Advanced work?

Promoted Listings Advanced is a campaign type that lets you drive traffic to your listings with preferred access to the top of search using keyword and budget controls. Advanced campaigns are based on a cost-per-click model where you choose how much you want to spend per day and how much you’re willing to spend on a click on your ad.

How is Promoted Listings Advanced different from Promoted Listings Standard?

Both Promoted Listings campaign types help your items stand out among billions of listings across the eBay network and be seen by millions of active buyers when they’re browsing and searching for what you’re selling, increasing the likelihood of a sale.
Promoted Listings Standard campaigns let you promote your listings across the eBay network and only pay when you sell. Standard campaigns are quick and simple to set up. Since you only pay when you sell, Standard campaigns are a low-risk way to boost visibility.
Promoted Listings Advanced campaigns let you promote your listings in the top slot of search results and pay per click on your ad. Advanced campaigns give you the high visibility you want and the control you need with a daily budget, keyword targeting, keyword bidding, and reporting.

Where will my ads show?

During beta, Advanced campaigns will show in positions 1-4 or 14-16 of the platform's search results.

Will my listings automatically win the top slot in search when I advertise with Promoted Listings Advanced?

No. Each time a buyer searches for a product, we will determine which listing is shown in the top slot using factors like listing quality, keyword relevance, your bid amount, other sellers’ bids, and a reserve price (the minimum amount we've determined a click is worth, taking item quality, competition, seasonality, and marketplace thresholds into consideration).
Follow these best practices to improve item quality and relevancy:
- Write a clear and concise title with correct spelling and no more than 80
  characters.
- Add an accurate description, using product details from the eBay catalog wherever you can.
- Use high-quality photos, taken from every angle, and show any flaws or scratches. You can include up to 12 pictures for free.
- Add item specifics, such as make, model, size, color, and style.

Will the quality of my listings improve if I include them in ads?

Promoting your listings can help increase the amount of exposure and impressions that your ads receive, but the underlying quality of your listings depends on factors including price, item quality and other aspects of your listing.

How does eBay decide which listing will appear in the top slot?

Placement and ranking are influenced by a variety of factors, including your bid, item relevancy, listing quality and a reserve price (the minimum amount we've determined a click is worth, taking item quality, competition, seasonality, and marketplace thresholds into consideration). Just having a high bid doesn't necessarily guarantee you will win top slot placement, as eBay has strong quality and relevancy measures in place to ensure a good buyer experience.

Can I promote the same listings via Promoted Listings Standard and Promoted Listings Advanced campaigns?

Yes. You can promote the same listings through Standard and Advanced campaigns.
Keep in mind that when you promote your listings through Advanced campaigns, you’re bidding on the top slot in search and paying per click. Standard campaigns have placements across the eBay network and you pay per sale. We recommend that you use both Standard and Advanced campaigns together to maintain coverage.

Can a listing that is promoted via Promoted Listings Standard and Promoted Listings Advanced Campaigns appear in the same search results?

No. A listing can only appear once in the same set of search results.
Keep in mind that Standard campaigns have placements across the eBay network, not just in search results.

Will there be a difference between how Promoted Listings Standard and Promoted Listings Advanced ads will look in the top slot on the search results page?

No, the listings will look the same. Both will have a “Sponsored” badge regardless of the ad campaign they are in.

Do you offer syndicated reviews for brand owners?

This is not currently offered.

Will my campaign start and end dates be in my local time zone?

Campaign dates will align to the site time zone thatthe campaign is being served in (the listing site).

How does “daily budget” work?

The daily budget is the maximum amount that you’re willing to spend on a single campaign per day. Some days you may spend less than your daily budget, but you will never be charged more than the amount you choose. Once your campaign has reached its daily budget, your campaign will stop being charged until the next day, when the daily budget resets. Any unused daily budget will not roll over to the next day.
The daily campaign cost is calculated by multiplying the total number of clicks received per keyword by their respective price.
- Example: Daily budget NOT reached
  - Daily budget is $500.
  - On a given day, Keyword A (average cost per click of $2.50) receives 100 clicks, and Keyword B ( average cost per click of $2.00) receives 50 clicks, which brings the daily campaign cost to $350. The remaining $150 will not roll over to the next day.
- Example: Daily budget REACHED
  - Daily budget is $500.
  - On a given day, Keyword A (average cost per click of $2.50) receives 100 clicks, and Keyword B (average cost per click of $2.00) receives 125 clicks, which brings the daily campaign cost to $500. Since the daily budget has been reached, your ads will stop serving and your campaign will resume the next day.
Note: Updates to your daily budget are made in real time. If you update your daily budget below what has already been spent, your ads will stop serving and your new daily budget will go into effect the next day.

How soon will changes to my daily budget take effect?

Updates to your daily budget are made in real time. Listings in a campaign will be eligible to begin surfacing again if you increase the daily budget of an out-of-budget campaign.
Note: If you update your daily budget below what has already been spent, your ads will stop serving and your new daily budget will go into effect the next day.

Is there a minimum and maximum daily budget for Advanced Promoted Listings?

Yes. There is a $1.00 minimum and a $1,000,000.00 maximum daily budget.

What is an ad group?

Ad groups help you build more effective campaigns by organizing your listings to a common goal or category. Grouping together similar listings allows you to target them with the same set of keywords.
For example, you might want to create an ad group containing men’s sneakers that you would like to promote for Father’s Day.
Campaign: Father’s Day
- Daily budget: $500
- Ad group: Best selling men’s sneakers
  - Listings:
    - High top sneakers
    - Running shoes
  - Keywords
    - Father’s day gift ideas, men’s athletic shoes, high tops,
    - best running shoes, popular men’s sneakers
- Ad group: Last season’s men’s athletic wear
  - Listings:
    - Joggers
    - Sweatshirts
    - Shirts
  - Keywords:
    - Fleece hooded sweatshirts, athleisure, quick dry t-shirt,
    - high waisted jogger pants
- This extra level of control helps you better target your listings and increase the likelihood that your campaigns will drive a return on investment (ROI).

How are my keywords targeted?

Exact match allows your listing to appear for search terms that match your keywords character-for-character with slight variations like misspellings, capitalization, and abbreviations.
Phrase match allows your listings to appear for search terms that include exact or close variants of your keyword and may include other words before and/or after your keyword.
Your ad will only appear for search phrases where your keyword retains its original meaning. It will not appear for search phrases that add a word to the middle of your keyword.
You can use up to 1,000 keywords per ad group.

What are suggested keywords?

Suggested keywords are search terms that we’ve determined are relevant and likely to perform well in your ad group.
We evaluate keywords based on how frequently they’ve been used in recent searches and how relevant those searches are to the listings in your ad group. These keyword suggestions are designed to help you target buyers who are actively looking for items like yours.

What are negative keywords?

Negative keywords are terms that are excluded from your ad group. Meaning, when a buyer searches for a term that is a negative keyword, your Advanced ads will not be eligible for display.
Please note: Negative keywords are exact match without variants, meaning for a keyword to be excluded, it needs to match the buyer's search term character for character.

What are the suggested bids and bid ranges?

Our suggested bids and bid ranges are based on a number of factors, including past performance, competition, and marketplace trends. Using the suggested bids and bid ranges can help take the guesswork out of setting competitive bids.
Suggested bids and bid ranges can change over time, so we suggest monitoring your campaign performance and making any needed changes to remain competitive.
Currently, suggested bids and bid ranges are based on exact match, and the bids for exact and phrase match will be the same.

Is there a minimum and maximum bid for keywords?

Yes. There is a 0.02 minimum and 100.00 maximum.

How do I choose which keywords to use?

Suggested keywords are available for most listings. These are keywords that we think are relevant and will likely perform well for the listings in your ad group based on past performance.
You can also include your own selection of keywords. When adding your own keywords, keep in mind your item title and the search terms that you think buyers will use to search for your listings.
Monitor your keyword performance by downloading keyword-level reports for each campaign. Remove any low-performing keywords and replace them with new suggested keywords to further optimize your campaign.

My Promoted Listings Advanced campaign performance has been increasing and decreasing even though I haven’t made any changes. Why is this happening?

The eBay Marketplace is a dynamic environment. A number of factors can cause an increase or decrease in your campaigns’ visibility, clicks, or sales, including buyer traffic or demand, seasonality, changes to the competitive landscape, general platform changes, and more.

How can I improve the performance of my ads?

Our reporting and guidance is designed to make it easy for you to optimize your campaigns.
Selecting the right keywords, setting competitive bids on keywords, and improving listing quality may increase the chances of your ads performing well.
Follow these best practices to improve item quality and relevancy:
Write a clear and concise title with correct spelling and no more than 80 characters.
Add an accurate description, using product details from the eBay catalog wherever you can.
Use high-quality photos, taken from every angle, and show any flaws or scratches. You can include up to 12 pictures for free.
Add item specifics, such as make, model, size, color, and style.
Using suggested keywords and suggested bids may increase your chances of winning the top slot on the search results page. We recommend using these suggestions as a starting point.

What are general best practices I should be following to make the most out of my Advanced campaigns?

Create strategic ad groups
- We recommend building effective ad groups by organizing your listings according to a common goal or category. Grouping together similar listings allows you to target them with the same set of keywords.
Use suggested keywords
- Suggested keywords are search terms that we’ve determined are relevant and likely to perform well in your campaign. We evaluate keywords based on how frequently they’ve been used in recent searches and how relevant those searches are to the listings in your ad group. These keyword suggestions are designed to help you target buyers who are actively looking for items like yours. For best results, add at least 10 keywords per listing in each ad group.
Bid competitively
- To help optimize campaigns, we provide you with suggested bids and bid ranges for all suggested keywords. Because Advanced campaigns are based on a cost-per-click model, you get to choose how much each click is worth to you.
- Our suggested bids and bid ranges are based on a number of factors, including past performance and marketplace trends. Using the suggested bids and bid ranges can help take the guesswork out of setting competitive bids.
Continue to optimize your campaigns
- Keep an eye on your campaign performance to ensure your ad groups remain effective. Suggested keywords and bids can change over time, so we suggest monitoring your campaign performance and making any needed changes to remain competitive.

Reporting and Billing FAQs

Will I always be charged my full daily budget?

No. You will only be charged when your ad is clicked. Any unused daily budget will not roll over to the next day.
For example, if your daily budget is $100, your average cost per click is $1, and your ad is clicked 40 times in one day, you will be charged $40 for that day. The next day, your daily budget will still be $100, since unused daily budget will not roll over.

How will sales be attributed to my Promoted Listings Advanced ads?

Sales will be attributed within a 30-day window of a click on your ad.

How is my Advanced ad fee determined?

You choose how much you want to spend by setting a maximum daily budget, selecting keywords, and setting a bid for each keyword.
You will be charged for all valid clicks on your Advanced ads. The cost for each click is based on a second-price auction, which means the fee charged will be determined by factors like listing quality, keyword relevance, your bid amount, other sellers’ bids, and a reserve price (the minimum amount we've determined a click is worth, taking item quality, competition, seasonality, and marketplace thresholds into consideration).
- For example, if Seller A had the highest bid at $3.00 and Seller B had the second-highest bid at $1.50, and both items are of equal quality, Seller A wins the auction. The amount that Seller A will pay per click will be between $1.50 and $3.00, but will never be more than $3.00.

How will I see charges for my Advanced campaign?

We combine all clicks a seller receives on a Promoted Listings Advanced ad in a given campaign on a daily basis and sellers are generally charged for these clicks up to 72 hours after the click takes place.
The charges are at listing-level, and the seller can see the campaign ID, click date, total number of clicks, and average cost-per-click per listing.

How does eBay handle invalid traffic?

Promoted Listings Advanced traffic is screened by our proprietary detection software, which is designed to help filter invalid traffic in real-time.
Note: Campaign reports can take up to 72 hours to reconcile.

Will my Promoted Listings Advanced campaign data be updated in real-time?

Campaign name, Status, Start and End date, Budget, Ad fees, and Listings are updated in real-time, as those updates are made.
Sold, Total sales, Clicks, and Impressions may take up to 72 hours to reconcile.

Why isn’t there any data in my reports?

After launching your campaign, allow up to 72 hours for some reporting metrics to appear in downloaded reports.

How will I be charged for listings that are promoted via Promoted Listings Standard and Promoted Listings Advanced campaigns?

Charges will be based on the campaign type the listing was participating in at the time of the click. You will always be charged for valid clicks on Advanced ads, but you will only be charged for attributed sales for Standard ads.
- For example, Item A participates in both Advanced and Standard campaigns. It has an average CPC of $0.25 in the Advanced campaign and a 7% ad rate in the Standard campaign.
- Item A wins the top slot in search via an Advanced ad and there are 5 clicks, which incurs $1.25 in fees through Promoted Listings Advanced.
- The next day, Item A appears in a Promoted Listings Standard placement on a listing page. A buyer clicks the Standard ad and buys Item A for $100 within 30 days, so Item A accrues a $7.00 ad fee via Promoted Listings Standard.
- In total Item A accrued a total of $8.25 in ad fees via both campaigns.
Note: Advanced ads will incur a charge each time they are clicked, regardless of the attributed sale.

How will sales be attributed between my Standard and Advanced campaigns?

We use a last click attribution model, meaning that the sale will be attributed to the click closest to the sale.
Last click attribution is the industry standard and will ensure that a sale is only attributed once across Promoted Listings campaign types.
- For example, if a listing is promoted in both a Standard and an Advanced campaign, a buyer may click on the Advanced ad and the Standard ad before purchasing the item. Once purchased, the sale will be attributed to whichever ad was last clicked before the buyer made the purchase.
- Note: Advanced ads will always be charged for a click, regardless of an attributed sale. Standard ads will only be charged for an attributed sale.

Is reporting data in my local time zone?

Reporting data will be in the UTC time zone.