Scott Shipman

Giving consumers a choice with AdChoice
As you know, over a year ago, we began testing new advertising placements and content. As part of this effort, we also began planting seeds for new programs that provide visitors to eBay with more relevant ads that are personalized according to their interests. An important component of this plan is a new program we’ve created called AdChoice. AdChoice lets you tell us whether to use the information we have to personalize ads for you.

Over the last few months, you may have come across one of our personalized eBay ads, where you can find the "AdChoice" link in the lower corner. In the next weeks and months, you'll start seeing the latest piece of the AdChoice program. We're working with Yahoo!, our partner for on-site advertising, to begin making sure the ads we show you on the eBay site are more relevant to you. On the ads we serve this way on the site, you'll see a label — "Advertisement (about)" — with a link. If you click on the link, you'll get an explanation of the program and a preference you can set to opt out. Remember, by opting out, you'll still see ads, they'll just be generic and not customized to your interests.

Please note though — if the ads you see on eBay.com after the label appears aren't relevant right away, don't worry. We'll begin showing you the label a few weeks before Yahoo! starts targeting ads, so that everyone has an opportunity to learn more about the program before it starts. If you are interested in reading more about AdChoice, please go to a Chatter blog interview with me earlier this year.

You might also like to know that:

• Privacy rights organization Privacy International recently rated eBay the best company for privacy on the internet.

• Forrester Research just released a new case study, titled eBay Stands On Its Privacy Principles, that praises eBay for its privacy programs and protections (including AdChoice).

• The Consumer Privacy Law Forum (a non-profit founded by eBay, HP and Microsoft, and joined by many other industry leaders) is developing working papers discussing a recommended approach for a comprehensive federal privacy law in the United States.

Your online privacy and safety is paramount to eBay, and we think AdChoice is a good example of what a company with a strong commitment to privacy can do to ensure transparency and control over personalized advertising. We're glad to be a pioneer in this area, and we're pleased that these issues are getting attention from many other companies these days, too. We all benefit as the industry raises the bar on privacy.

Sincerely,

Scott Shipman
Senior Counsel, eBay Global Privacy Practices