Introducing eBay Advanced Audience Technology

Advertisers are continually striving to make their ads more relevant, more engaging, and ultimately more effective, and audience data has become an incredibly powerful tool in this effort. But with every step forward, new challenges come our way. Whether it’s finding the perfect mix of reach and precision, leveraging data that will really move the needle, or solving for a post-cookie world, data is keeping lots of advertisers up at night.

That’s why I am thrilled to announce the launch of eBay Advanced Audience Technology. With 100+ million MUVs, vast amounts of first-party real intent shopper data and a massive logged-in user base, eBay Advertising is able to tackle these challenges head-on. Our new technology (eAAT for short) is helping our advertisers supercharge their audience-targeted campaigns and see significant performance increases.

What Is It?

eAAT is eBay Advertising’s proprietary, cookie-less targeting technology that:

  • Replaces rules-based segmentation with realtime, virtually immediate audience creation
  • Runs server-to-server, removing the need for a DMP integration and audience shrinking match rates

But, what gets me so excited about eAAT is not necessarily what it is, but what it does for our advertisers.

It All Starts With the Data

eAAT is built on top of one of the most valuable data sets across the digital landscape. Audience targeting technology is only as good as the data it uses, and because ours is based on real people with real shopping intent signals, eAAT campaigns are set up to win from the get-go.

Increased Reach and Precision

Then, we solve for the challenge I hear about the most: how difficult it is to scale audience-targeted campaigns. Not surprising, considering that match rates can be as low as 20%. Then, when segments are padded with similar, but less meaningful attributes, campaign performance can really suffer. Because eAAT is server-to-server, and isn’t subject to match rates, it can extend reach by up to 3x.

That means you don’t have to sacrifice precision for scale – eAAT offers both! Here’s a great example. During our beta period, we ran an A/B test for a major insurance brand. The goal was to determine, using the new technology, just how much additional reach could be achieved and the impact of a more precise audience. Typically, this campaign was run through traditional DMP methodology and had relatively low match rates. Both campaigns included the same combination of high-impact placements, targeted rotational media, and strategic audience and category targeting. One just went server-to-server through eAAT, while the other ran through a traditional DMP integration and match rates. How’d the eAAT campaign do? The eAAT campaign drove a +32% increase in average daily impressions, +31% increase in overall campaign impressions, and a +7% increase in CTR.

eAAT technology allowed us to increase the overall reach while also identifying a more precise, and qualified audience, resulting in increased engagement and traffic to the brand’s site.

Don’t Miss a Single Shopping Moment

We are truly putting the “real” in realtime. Because eAAT replaces manually-built, rules-based audiences, and the number of jumps it takes to get to activation, our advertisers can go from audience request to audience reach in just a matter of minutes.

With eAAT, shoppers can be targeted during their very first eBay shopping session, giving you the ability to take advantage of even the shortest shopping journeys. We recently ran a campaign for a software brand and saw that 90% of shoppers bought the product in their first session. This is a massive audience that would have been missed if traditional targeting tactics were employed.

Future-Proofed for A Cookie-less World

Finally, because of our logged-in user base, all of our targeting is based on user IDs. That means we don’t depend on cookies to connect you to your audience across all platforms. As we move into a cookie-less future, we’ve got you set up for success and future-proofed against browser blockers and privacy regulations.

eAAT is the future of audience targeting…the eBay way.  Learn how you can be a part of that future by connecting with us here.

Scott Kelliher
Head of eBay Advertising US