Just got this email from eBay communications, announcing that eBay is using AdWords again, but read on:
The test we began last week was successful. We found that we were not as dependent on Google AdWords as some may have thought. By re-allocating our marketing dollars to our other partners, such as Yahoo!, AOL and MSN, we were able to increase traffic and find efficiencies that will enable us to drive more value to our sellers and partners going forward. We are now slowly turning AdWords back on, in a much more limited way than before. We will continue to work with Google, Yahoo!, AOL, MSN and other partners to reach more potential buyers and accelerate business for our community of sellers.
Wow, that’s not exactly makeup sex, is it?!
Does one need to turn off a campaign to find out whether it’s working or not?
I call BS. If they “were able to increase traffic”, why the hell would they go back to AdWords and diminished traffic?
Further Reading:
http://ebaystrategies.blogs.com/ebay_strategies/2007/06/faq_what_was_th_1.html
I’m with Ben Tucker, why would they start giving more money to Google if, like they say, wasn’t as effective as giving more money to other partners.
I think more than like, they’ve realised that they are dependant on a lot of their traffic from Google AdWords and they just don’t want to look like the weak partner in the relationship.
“We found that we were not as dependent on Google AdWords as some may have thought.”
That phrasing sounds so weird, like it reveals the hurt.
Maybe they should share the data.
I second the comment above: “Why did they need to turn google off to test the effectiveness of other traffic sources?” I would sure as hell hope that they can measure the effectiveness of every single ad they buy based on whether it converts into a sale. If they can’t, they deserve increased competition from google.
This smells of PR BS speak. Nice try, Ebay.
There may be some true in eBay’s statement as I have found Yahoo to have starting driving a lot more search traffic than previously. It could also be assumed that eBay management felt a greater need to reallocate money to other advertising outlets (but shutting down for a week is not the way to go).
Let’s see if we can make the slipper fit.
IF eBay was getting solid clickthrough but low yield through SOME keyword/pairings… But better performance on same at Yahoo, AOL, MSN and switched their spend to those networks as a results. Fine.
Even still. The resources they were throwing at online advertising should have known the answer to “who performs best under what conditions” already.
Translation: eBay still needs Google (but doesn’t want to admit as much in so many words.)
They thought they could get away without Google, but found they could not.