I don't think eBay had any problems growing for the first 6-8 years before AdWords even existed. eBay started using Google AdWords simply because their affilia

I don't think eBay had any problems growing for the first 6-8 years before AdWords even existed. eBay started using Google AdWords simply because their affiliates were using them. They figured they may as well prohibit AdWords in their affiliate TOS and do it directly.