EBay Opens Up Its Data for Ad Targeting

Ebay, still trailing sites like Google, Amazon and Facebook, is now getting in on ad targeting. You have seen this (most of us) where you might shop for a certain items and then see ads for that, or similar items on other sites. I guess I would complain but it does not really bother me.

According to Adweek EBay has long used its proprietary user data and partnerships with data management platforms to grow its eBay Marketplaces business by promoting merchants' products to users who have previously bought or shown interest in a related item on eBay.

"We're now commercializing that capability for the benefit of other marketers who want to reach shoppers. That’s something new this year," said eBay’s head of digital display in North America, Stephen Howard-Sarin, at AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O conference in San Francisco today.

Marketers may grimace at yet another platform mediating their media buys