Improving the Quality of your Programme’s Traffic – eBay’s Insights

München, 19th May 2010Chris Howard and JJ McCarthy

• eBay Partner Network launched April 2008, replacing eBay affiliate programmes on 3rd party networks

• Affiliates promote eBay in 13 countries worldwide

• Recently announced Quality Click Pricing, a new CPC payment model rewarding publishers for quality traffic

• >100k sites in 27 countries

• Business models include portals, content sites, blogs, shopping comparison, deals and loyalty sites

Quick eBay Partner Network background

• Questions we have faced since launching eBay Partner Network

• Why we launched Quality Click Pricing to address these questions

• What we have learned since launch about improving traffic quality

• Insights you could use to benefit your own programme

Agenda

Questions we have faced since launching ePN

Improved front-door security

Better defined Ts and Cs

Investment in fraud detection

Removed lowest quality affiliates

Better Network Quality control enabled greater focus on legitimate publishers...

“How do we ensure our publishers are promoting eBay the way we want them to?”

Questions we have faced since launching ePN

“Did the affiliate’s efforts generate the lead/ sale?”

“How do we incentivise our best publishers to send us more traffic?”

“How do we incentivise publishers driving lower

quality traffic to improve?”

“Are the affiliate’s leads worth what you pay for

them?”

...but plenty of difficult questions remained!

• Questions we have faced since launching eBay Partner Network

• Why we launched Quality Click Pricing to address these questions

• What we have learned since launch about improving traffic quality

• Insights you could use to benefit your own programme

Agenda

What is Quality Click Pricing?

• Quality-based CPC pricing model launched in September 2009

• CPCs updated daily, varied according to traffic quality:

User events Incrementality Value

• Acquisition• Purchases• Payment

method• Ad Revenue• ...

• Would event have taken place without ad interaction?

• What is each event worth?

How Quality Click Pricing addresses these questions

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Value Index

Rank-ordered affiliates

Quality Click Pricing pays out based on actual value of

each publisher’s leads

Average value per lead by publisher

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7Latency (days)

# of purchases

Time from click to purchase (illustrative)

Quality Click Pricing places a higher value on more

incremental purchases

Quality Click Pricing aligned traffic quality with payout to incentivise more incremental, high value traffic

• Questions we have faced since launching eBay Partner Network

• Why we launched Quality Click Pricing to address these questions

• What we have learned since launch about improving traffic quality

• Insights you could use to benefit your own programme

Agenda

Publisher reaction: optimising for quality traffic

“Quality Click Pricing has ensured that our objectives, eBay’s and

those of our publisher base are all aligned and as a result everybody

benefits through driving incremental traffic”

– Alicia Navarro

“Quality Click Pricing means that I can focus on maintaining high quality traffic for the long term

success of both myself and eBay” – Steve Wilson

Publisher reaction: optimising for quality traffic

“We can track exactly what traffic is the highest quality to eBay and focus on

driving more. In exchange, we get paid more. It’s a win-win situation”

– Dave Davis

Optimisation has brought rewards for publishers who initially earned less under

Quality Click Pricing

Improved metrics since Quality Click Pricing launch

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Value of Active Users Acquired (Indexed to Aug 2009)

18% increase in Active User Value since launch

Improved metrics since Quality Click Pricing launch

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Earnings Per Click (Indexed to Aug 2009)

34% increase in Earnings Per Click since launch

• Questions we have faced since launching eBay Partner Network

• Why we launched Quality Click Pricing to address these questions

• What we have learned since launch about improving traffic quality

• Insights you could use to benefit your own programme

Agenda

Constantly strive for better value attribution

User events Incrementality Value

• Acquisition• Purchases• Payment

method• Ad Revenue• ...

• Would event have taken place without ad interaction?

• What is each event worth?

Holistic view of

publisher value

Refinement of event

valuation

Better incrementality measurement

Need all levers operating in harmony to drive success

Network Quality

• Carefully select business models• Pay attention at the front door• Ensure T&Cs are clear and watertight• Transparency into traffic sources

Tools

Need all levers operating in harmony to drive success

Network Quality

• Understand your publishers’ websites• Make integrations as easy as possible• Ensure tools reflect your brand image

Account ManagementTools

Need all levers operating in harmony to drive success

Network Quality

• Direct communication with publishers• Proactive and reactive• Don’t just talk – listen!

Account Management

Education

Tools

Need all levers operating in harmony to drive success

Network Quality

• Blogs are for life, not just for sales!• Give publishers tips for success

Account Management

Education

Tools

Reporting

Need all levers operating in harmony to drive success

Network Quality

• Data clarity• Publishers can’t

optimise blind!

Thank you for listening!

Questions?