Promoted 'Impressions' ?

[wiremeshshop]

What exactly defines an impression ?

I tried a search for cable ties and the results showed 35,000+ results. Feeling very bored and curious, I scrolled through to try getting to the very last listing from my search. I got as far as 10,000 then the page told me that Ebay cant show more than 10,000 results.

So, would listing number 10,000 actually be classed as an 'impression'? Even more importantly, would all of the extra 25,000+ listings be classed as an impression even though they can't be shown?

Some of our listings show 2000 impressions per day but thats hardly useful information if most of those impressions were being shown on page 50 or more.

[the-nutwood-collection]

eBay defines an impression as 'When a link to your listing appears on eBay, we count that as an impression.  At this point, the buyer is one click away from your listing page'.

However, this is rather woolly because the word 'appears' isn't defined.

The industry standard is that an impression can be either 'served', which means it has been sent by the host server, or 'downloaded' which means the listing or advertisement has begun to download to the user's device.

As I understand it, neither of these standards mean that the user has actually recieved the item in page view (i.e. it has been placed before their eyes).  However, it is possible to measure this.

When a user executes a search, data will be served in response to this search.  How much data is served is determined by the specification - it may be one page (this is when you have a 'see more' button and wait for the next page) or it may be several pages (which gives the user a continuous stream of data with no waiting).

I worked on the server-side of IT, not the front end, which means I sent the data I was specified to send in the format I was specified to send it in.  How the front end web people rendered and counted it was beyond the scope of my specification.  Maybe a web-savvy seller can add more detail.

[dave@ebay]

Hi @wiremeshshop 

Just to add to the above, you can find more information on impressions and views in the FAQs here.

Thanks,

Dave

[wiremeshshop]

Thanks Dave but I can't find any information on Impressions and views

[dave@ebay]

Hi @wiremeshshop 

No problem, this should help explain it:

A view is the number of visits to a listing page.

An impression is the number of times your listing has appeared on eBay. When we talk about visibility, we are referring to impressions.

For example, when your listing appears as a Promoted Listings ad, that would be counted as an impression. If the buyer clicks on that ad, that would be counted as a view.

Promoted impressions: The number of times we displayed your Promoted Listings Express ad to buyers.

Organic impressions: The number of times we displayed your organic (non-promoted) listing to buyers throughout eBay.

Total impressions: The sum of promoted and organic impressions.

Thanks,

Dave

[wiremeshshop]

I understand that Dave. My query was basically if a search is made and one of our listings appears on say page 50 of search results is that still considered an impression?

[superchallenge]

No, it wouldn't, as the listing hasn't been displayed. It would count as an impression if the buyer actually clicks on page 50 and sees the listing.

[wiremeshshop]

Here is a summary for January for 22 listings

Promoted impressions - 122,000

Promoted Clicks - 439 

Promoted sales - 9

Organic impressions - 246,000 !!

Organic Clicks - 377

Organic sales - 7

That's a combined CTR of 0.22%.

How is this even possible?

[the-nutwood-collection]

Although the CTR is dreadful, your conversion rate is 1.96%.  I think the average for B2C is around 2%, but this does differ by product.

I think the impression count is probably based on downloaded, which means that the buyer hasn't necessarily seen your listing in page view.  You could increase the PL spend to push the listings higher in the search and give them a greater chance of being seen.  However, whether the cost is worth it, only you know.  It depends on how much wriggle room you've got in your prices and margins.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

An impression is when someone clicks on a link to your item.

I think it was goodle ads that works the same.

You pay so much for a click.

I spent £100 on google ads and never got a single sale !

So in the bin that idea went.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Doesnt matter what level the impression is clicked  from its still an impression.

[superchallenge]

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@nigel_paul_wright7557 wrote:

An impression is when someone clicks on a link to your item.

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No, it isn't.

An impression is when a link to your listing is displayed.

A click is when somebody clicks on that link.