4 ms·

> It’s hard to tell when someone has bought a product. How about, "I've literally got it in my last-day purchase history on eBay and they keep showing me the s

by Syonyk 5y ago

> It’s hard to tell when someone has bought a product. How about, "I've literally got it in my last-day purchase history on eBay and they keep showing me the same thing and a bunch of related stuff to the item that hasn't even arrived yet, but that they've taken my money for"? ... and then eBay follows me around showing the same stuff on other sites. The thing I've purchased. From eBay. At least, they did, until I got more aggressive blocking ads and started using the internet a ton less.

david_allison 5y ago
If you buy a product and you're dissatisfied, you're more likely than the average person to buy a similar product.
pooper 5y ago
A certain national bank which I shall not name had a banner on top of its app. The link opens a web page that goes to double click and then opens the bank's website. Why would a bank app take me through a double click link just to take me back to their own website? My guess is this is the same reason why eBay shows you ads for things you just bought. There are massive inefficiencies in these large organizations. I'm sure everything they do is locally optimal but not even close globally.
- dylan604 5y ago
  if it didn't do the round trip, it would leave a hole in the analytics. They get paid on the analytics, so the analytics must be kept whole
- soared 5y ago
  In-app analytics is done through a “mobile measurement partner” which have limitations in tracking so sometimes you need workarounds like using a redirect. Also likely the app is a totally different team and getting them to change a link is difficult, but giving them a link where the web team can change the redirect is easy.
- names_are_hard 5y ago
  Wow...I think you just discovered a hole in Apple's draconian app store policies. They don't let you link to your website from your app if the site has a way to buy a subscription without paying the Apple tax. But what if you sell ad space in your app through an intermediary, and then turn around and bid on ads for users that have your app installed? You might be able to get them to notice you and sign up on the web instead of through the app. Genius. (I'm only being half-facetious)
  - pooper 5y ago
    Thank you for your reply. I went back to look at where I had mentioned that I had used an iPhone but you're right. I have an iPhone and and Android phone but I use banking apps exclusively on the iPhone. Interesting idea. Probably still would be cheaper than paying 30% tax to Apple.
- iamstupidsimple 5y ago
  It's called a "house ad" and is generally free for the publisher. They appear when there's no other inventory (like insurance ads). Usually double-click stuff is all negotiated by publishers and has little to do with AdSense or bidding.
soared 5y ago
This doesn’t seem like a genuine discourse, but purchase suppression can occur in batches. So that purchase data may not get fed back into all the advertising systems for days/weeks if it’s using a poor set up. For example, sometimes for suppression brands literally just export a csv of customers and upload it to google. If your marketing guy does it once a week.. I’d assume eBay’s doesn’t work like that, but it’s possible. Also possible they just don’t suppress recently bought items !
Tomte 5y ago
My standard response to this: Prior purchases do have predictive power. They can very well be positively correlated to further purchases. I've often bought stuff that didn't work for some reason. It was broken, or it had something that was bothering me. Maybe the power adapter was annoyingly loud (looking at you, Kyocera). So I sent it back. But before I managed to go to the postal office a few days later I was already searching for a replacement online. If I buy a TV set, I have indicated that I need/want a TV set. The rate of returns is broadly known (and maybe even specifically for me the return rate is known). So Amazon et. al. do well to recommend similar stuff or things from the exact same product category to me. Even right after I have bought a graphics tablet I'm infinitely more likely to buy a graphics tablet tomorrow, compared to my parents who have never bought one in their lives, and never will. Or maybe the new TV turns out to be great, and I realize it would be nice to have a second one in my sleeping room, and why not buy a third one for the bathroom? ;-)
- onion2k 5y ago
  But before I managed to go to the postal office a few days later I was already searching for a replacement online. While plausible, that sort of situation doesn't sound common enough that it should underpin the entire online advertising industry. Even right after I have bought a graphics tablet I'm infinitely more likely to buy a graphics tablet tomorrow, compared to my parents who have never bought one in their lives, and never will. But you're more likely still to buy another stylus, or art software, or an accessory, or physical art materials, etc. Why don't advertisers understand that?
- watwut 5y ago
  None of this sounds super frequent?
  - Tomte 5y ago
    Doesn't matter in the slightest. You've identified yourself as someone who is definitely interested in that product. And not "just looking", but actually paying money. That's super valuable to businesses. I still maintain that people who have bought a TV yesterday are more likely to buy a TV today than people who haven't bought a TV yesterday. Very few people buy a TV today. Or in the coming days. It seems like a straightforward application of the base rate fallacy. Sure, most people who bought the TV yesterday keep their TV and don't need a second one. But unless you have specific information about other people's interest in buying one, they may still be your best shot at selling another one. Also, both you and sibling commenter argue as if there were a scarcity of ads. Amazon showing me a TV ad doesn't preclude Amazon from showing me a kitchen utensil ad on the next page.
Scoundreller 5y ago
At least it’s a thing you bought. I wanted to sell a thing, so I went onto newegg to copy the description and paste it into my eBay listing and I got ads following me around the internet to buy the thing for weeks. Like, I’m the opposite of interested in buying it, I’m trying to get rid of it.
XorNot 5y ago
As far as I know, the convention about this is that when you buy a thing, the most likely next purchase statistically is in fact the same thing because you are unhappy with the one you bought.
- vba616 5y ago
  Ever seen really weird combinations in "people who bought X also bought..."?
amelius 5y ago
Just give me a button "I already own this".

by Syonyk 5y ago

david_allison 5y ago

If you buy a product and you're dissatisfied, you're more likely than the average person to buy a similar product.

pooper 5y ago

A certain national bank which I shall not name had a banner on top of its app. The link opens a web page that goes to double click and then opens the bank's website. Why would a bank app take me through a double click link just to take me back to their own website? My guess is this is the same reason why eBay shows you ads for things you just bought. There are massive inefficiencies in these large organizations. I'm sure everything they do is locally optimal but not even close globally.

dylan604 5y ago
if it didn't do the round trip, it would leave a hole in the analytics. They get paid on the analytics, so the analytics must be kept whole
soared 5y ago
In-app analytics is done through a “mobile measurement partner” which have limitations in tracking so sometimes you need workarounds like using a redirect. Also likely the app is a totally different team and getting them to change a link is difficult, but giving them a link where the web team can change the redirect is easy.
names_are_hard 5y ago
Wow...I think you just discovered a hole in Apple's draconian app store policies. They don't let you link to your website from your app if the site has a way to buy a subscription without paying the Apple tax. But what if you sell ad space in your app through an intermediary, and then turn around and bid on ads for users that have your app installed? You might be able to get them to notice you and sign up on the web instead of through the app. Genius. (I'm only being half-facetious)
- pooper 5y ago
  Thank you for your reply. I went back to look at where I had mentioned that I had used an iPhone but you're right. I have an iPhone and and Android phone but I use banking apps exclusively on the iPhone. Interesting idea. Probably still would be cheaper than paying 30% tax to Apple.
iamstupidsimple 5y ago
It's called a "house ad" and is generally free for the publisher. They appear when there's no other inventory (like insurance ads). Usually double-click stuff is all negotiated by publishers and has little to do with AdSense or bidding.

soared 5y ago

This doesn’t seem like a genuine discourse, but purchase suppression can occur in batches. So that purchase data may not get fed back into all the advertising systems for days/weeks if it’s using a poor set up. For example, sometimes for suppression brands literally just export a csv of customers and upload it to google. If your marketing guy does it once a week.. I’d assume eBay’s doesn’t work like that, but it’s possible. Also possible they just don’t suppress recently bought items !

Tomte 5y ago

My standard response to this: Prior purchases do have predictive power. They can very well be positively correlated to further purchases. I've often bought stuff that didn't work for some reason. It was broken, or it had something that was bothering me. Maybe the power adapter was annoyingly loud (looking at you, Kyocera). So I sent it back. But before I managed to go to the postal office a few days later I was already searching for a replacement online. If I buy a TV set, I have indicated that I need/want a TV set. The rate of returns is broadly known (and maybe even specifically for me the return rate is known). So Amazon et. al. do well to recommend similar stuff or things from the exact same product category to me. Even right after I have bought a graphics tablet I'm infinitely more likely to buy a graphics tablet tomorrow, compared to my parents who have never bought one in their lives, and never will. Or maybe the new TV turns out to be great, and I realize it would be nice to have a second one in my sleeping room, and why not buy a third one for the bathroom? ;-)

onion2k 5y ago
But before I managed to go to the postal office a few days later I was already searching for a replacement online. While plausible, that sort of situation doesn't sound common enough that it should underpin the entire online advertising industry. Even right after I have bought a graphics tablet I'm infinitely more likely to buy a graphics tablet tomorrow, compared to my parents who have never bought one in their lives, and never will. But you're more likely still to buy another stylus, or art software, or an accessory, or physical art materials, etc. Why don't advertisers understand that?
watwut 5y ago
None of this sounds super frequent?
- Tomte 5y ago
  Doesn't matter in the slightest. You've identified yourself as someone who is definitely interested in that product. And not "just looking", but actually paying money. That's super valuable to businesses. I still maintain that people who have bought a TV yesterday are more likely to buy a TV today than people who haven't bought a TV yesterday. Very few people buy a TV today. Or in the coming days. It seems like a straightforward application of the base rate fallacy. Sure, most people who bought the TV yesterday keep their TV and don't need a second one. But unless you have specific information about other people's interest in buying one, they may still be your best shot at selling another one. Also, both you and sibling commenter argue as if there were a scarcity of ads. Amazon showing me a TV ad doesn't preclude Amazon from showing me a kitchen utensil ad on the next page.

Scoundreller 5y ago

At least it’s a thing you bought. I wanted to sell a thing, so I went onto newegg to copy the description and paste it into my eBay listing and I got ads following me around the internet to buy the thing for weeks. Like, I’m the opposite of interested in buying it, I’m trying to get rid of it.

XorNot 5y ago

As far as I know, the convention about this is that when you buy a thing, the most likely next purchase statistically is in fact the same thing because you are unhappy with the one you bought.

vba616 5y ago
Ever seen really weird combinations in "people who bought X also bought..."?

amelius 5y ago

Just give me a button "I already own this".