EBay will soon start sharing its user data with brands so they can target ads to consumers on non-eBay sites, following a similar move by Amazon. While information has been scarce, a buyer who's been pitched by the e-commerce giant was able to share some details about the service.
Dave Martin, svp of media at Los Angeles-based agency Ignited, said that eBay has compiled shopper segments like people looking for or buying auto, clothing, music or books that advertisers can target via a self-serve real-time bidding platform or working directly with eBay's sales teams.
"EBay is relatively new to this, so they don't have the audience segments organized yet," Martin said. "They haven't optimized the process. EBay will have to work harder... but their data is as robust [as Amazon's]."
Martin has used Amazon's ad targeting platform for a couple of clients, but he hasn't tested the eBay service yet, explaining he doesn't have a campaign that would make sense for it.