EBay Uses Machine Learning to Refine Promoted Listings

Online marketplace eBay incorporated additional buying signals such as "Add to Watchlist," "Make Offer," and "Add to Cart" into its machine learning model to improve the relevance of recommended ad listings, based on the initial items searched for. Chen Xue goes into great detail in this recent article. EBay's Promoted Listings Standard (PLS) is a paid option for sellers. With one option, PLSIM, eBay's recommendation engines suggest sponsored items similar to something a potential buyer just clicked on. The PLSIM is paid on a CPA model (the seller pays eBay only when a sale is made) so that can be very motivating in terms of creating the most effective model to promote the best listings.