eBay PartnerNetwork Blog
Introducing Chatting with eBay Partner Network – a New Video Series
July 14th, 2010
Hi All,
We’ve decided to try a new form of communication with you, our affiliate partners – video. This is the first in a series of videocasts we’ll be releasing over the next few weeks, to give you a chance to get to know the team here at eBay Partner Network. We’ll be discussing what’s happening here at eBay, what it’s like to work for ePN, industry trends and other things that pop up along the way. We’ll also be giving you a chance to help us shape future content. We’d love to hear your thoughts along the way (constructive, please!) so that we can improve on this as we go. And, of course, we hope you enjoy them as much as we’ve been enjoying working on them.
By the way, the case study I reference in this video can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/cgVami
Thanks and enjoy!
Chad
July 14th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
I WANT THE FORMULA
July 14th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Only constructive comment I can make is in the future don’t record the video with other people around talking. All other comments I have are not really constructive. Maybe try not to put so much spin on EPN support.
July 14th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Hello,
I have a question, I know the cookie remains for 7 days, but if a visitors bids today for example and the auction ends after 8 days, in meanwhile he keeps bidding everytime he gets out bid and at the end he still wins the auction. Will that conversion be counted to the referral or how does it work?
July 14th, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Hi Chad,
Video, great idea, really looking forward to more and hopefully meeting more of the team.
However, and I am *certain* that I am not the only one that thinks this but this video and your tone is incredibly condescending.
You say: “Our goal is not to have folks trying to optimize for our formula”
Then go on to say: “The goal is to optimize driving good traffic to eBay”
Come off it! Shouldn’t they be the same thing? Shouldn’t you want people optimizing to drive the traffic that you want to eBay? Nobody is asking you to give us a PDF with the complete algorithm but the complete black box that it is now is incredibly frustrating. You’re not a publisher, you can’t understand how frustrating until you put your feet in our shoes.
Even if you were to give us the exact formula for QCP, given that it’s designed to reward the traffic that you want, wouldn’t that be a good thing? If we all knew exactly what you wanted, we would send it to you!
While I may not be a big publisher, I am earning more under QCP. However, I have no idea why! I have no idea what you want so I can send you more of it.
You should spend more time giving us concrete examples of what you want rather than waste time with videos telling us that you’re not going to tell us your secrets. While videos are great for “engagement”, the underlying problems still exist.
Finally, support on the forums is enough. You could accomplish a lot if you didn’t post over there once a month and actually listened to and replied to constructive criticism.
I hope you dopn;t take this comment the wrong way and I do hope it’s published.
Really looking forward to getting to know some of the other faces behind the names.
July 14th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Maybe video isn’t a wise medium for you Chad. I like the idea of video communication but your disgust with the whiners and complainers is far too apparent. You look and sound completely worn down by the never ending negativity of some EPN affiliates and it is somewhat of a turn off.
Please understand that I get where you are coming from – it cannot be easy always being asked for information you have already said you will not give out. I’d just rather see someone on screen that can show they truly empathize with our desire for more transparency while still being able to explain why we cannot have it.
I hear your words Chad, and they make sense. Come to think of it, they always have. I’m just not getting the feeling that you care. Why that feeling is important to me – I am not sure – I just know that it is and I doubt I am the only one looking for a little bit of genuine empathy.
July 15th, 2010 at 2:06 am
Thanks for the new way that affiliates can get information, needless to say an entirely new to the universe system generates questions that deserve answers. Going forward affiliates need to feel like they can maximize their earnings with EPN and not all affiliates I’ve spoken to feel the new mystery algorithm known as QCP is achieving that so far. Some prefer knowing what their cut is in advance like the old EPN provided, others like to have a ballpark idea of what they can expect to earn on a daily basis(their range), so I hope to see more videos in the future, hopefully over on youtube too!
Enjoyed the video Chad, thanks.
July 15th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Thank you for this video. I look forward to many more.
~ Caleb
July 15th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Thanks for the video and intro. It’s a great idea to connect via video which makes it more personal and user friendly. Looking forward to watching the other videos
July 16th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
It’s good to see EPN trying to reach out to it’s affiliates a little here with this video so that is a wonderful thing. Looking forward to seeing more like this in the future. Thanks for trying to be transparent with us. It’s a breath of fresh air with EPN.
July 16th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
HI Chad,
Thanks for the video. I hope the EPN really does help us a little more. I’ve find it very hard to understand and project the way you get paid for the quality of traffic driven to eBay.
In my 1st month working with you the epn earning where much, much less I think around 500% less than my second month but yet I earnt less money in my second month. This is why I just cant get my head around the algorithm. If we could just have a little bit of transparency I think it would help us all. I speak for myself and hopefully ever other EP that I just want to understand to help me and eBay with more traffic/earnings. Not to manipulate the system just to help us earn better. That little bit of transparency would help me run much better PPC campaigns rather than adjusting them day by day which is a very tedious task indeed.
Paul
U.K. Partner
Thanks
July 16th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I’m glad you like the idea of video – we’re looking forward to doing more of it. To those of you who said I came off as a bit condescending or uncomfortable, I apologize – this is certainly not the impression I wanted to make. Please bear in mind that this was my first time doing a video like this and it was actually a little outside of my comfort zone. I hope to get better at it and I do appreciate the feedback.
Thanks,
Chad
July 16th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Hi Jean,
You can find the video on YouTube also through this link: http://www.youtube.com/ebaypartnernetworktv. Some of our videos are longer than YouTube allows, which is why we post in both places.
Best,
Amanda | eBay Partner Network Team
July 17th, 2010 at 12:38 am
Very nice… thanks for taking the time… looking forward to the next video chat!
Question… What EPC are you looking for in us? 0.30 0.90 per click.. it would be nice to know the highs and lows…
Take Care…
Holliday
July 17th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Amanda/Chad (If that is your real name)
Thanks for the video. It’s great you’re stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something now. You’ll get better at is as time goes by. Good first try but I have to agree with some of the other posters here.
I know you’re not going to give out the exact algorithm/formula to a high EPC because you don’t want publishers “optimizing to the algorithm” but think how counter intuitive that is. Bear with me and hear me out here… if we all knew the algorithm and we all optimized exactly to the algorithm *exactly*, wouldn’t that give you EXACTLY the traffic that you were looking for? You’d have thousands of publishers sending you exactly the types of high quality clicks you wanted overnight. We’d send the ones you didn’t want somewhere else. The traffic would be amazing for you guys and whoever you report to would be amazed. Literally overnight. Just something to think about.
It’s pretty clear that QCP cannot be manipulated so why the big secret?
QCP reminds me of a girlfriend I had a LONG time ago. JUST TELL US WHAT YOU WANT AND STOP BEING SO CRYPTIC!
We’ve given you a lot of trust in the past 9 months, it would be nice to get something in return. Unlike EVERY other program, we have NOTHING to optimize against, nothing. We don’t know what traffic to send you more of. I know it’s difficult, even impossible for you to do it but TRY, just for one minute, TRY to put yourself into the shoes of a publisher. PLEASE try. You will see how frustrating this really is. How can we send you more of what you want if we don’t know what you want?
I think I can speak on behalf of every publisher when I say “Once we *think* we see a pattern and think we’ve FINALLY nailed it, you blow our theories out of the water with unexplained drops and increases in payout”
Next, I have to agree with Dan above. The video, your tone and body language oozes with contempt for the “complainers”. I’m really trying to give constructive criticism here and while I really would love to see more videos, but I think your time might be better spent addressing the concerns of your “partners” (that have been concerns for almost a year) than make videos telling us that you’re not going to resolve them.
I too have been paid more under QCP consistently since October with no exceptions BUT I don’t know why!
Here, we have slowly been moving resources (people and money) away from promoting EPN in favor of something we have a little more control over. We may be paid less with other programs but at least we know why. We can put our efforts into improving the traffic that we send to them rather than guessing. Ultimately, that’s what we’re doing with EPN. GUESSING what we’re going to be paid the next day.
Finally, as I mentioned above and you mentioned int he video, we know you’re not going address the concerns of your partners. You might want to reconsider that. It might be the best thing you ever did.
July 17th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I don’t think your tone was condescending, but rather you were just telling it like it is. It’s not your fault you can’t give us the QCP algorithm. Please don’t start sugar-coating things for people that can’t handle.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
I agree with Don. I’ve met with Chad before and he’s simply a straight-shooter who tells it like it is. He definitely wasn’t trying to be condescending the the affiliate base and truly does care about how everyone performs.
Great to see the EPN team trying new ways to reach out to the affiliate base, and that was a nice plug for Coca Cola!