Reaching 4.6 million shoppers is about to get easier than ever if you’re an advertiser, as re/code reports that eBay will be launching its first mobile advertising business later this year.
To be more specific, the company’s lead advertising executive told Re/code that eBay will start running ads within its apps on phones and tablets in the fourth quarter of 2014.
When this initiative is rolled out, marketers will have the ability to place advertisements within eBay’s tablet and smartphone apps. The ads will appear directly on the home screen, and will target users based on their shopping and search history. The ads will be featured on eBay’s mobile websites also.
Stephen Howard-Sarin, eBay’s head of display advertising, said eBay “can do cross-device targeting better than almost anyone else” because of the amount of purchase history data they have for each user.
Ebay is continuing to try and establish itself as a major play in online advertising, which is evident by this new initiative. According to comscore, nearly 24 million people visited eBay’s main app on mobile phones and tablets in July. That’ a 20 percent increase year over year, and represents tremendous potential for advertisers.
Howard-Sarin told Re/code that eBay’s new mobile ads won’t be your regular, run of the mill rectangular display ads. Rather, eBay’s mobile ads will have a more native feel to them, blending right in with the products displayed in the app’s feed of product listings. They will be multi-functional as well, being capable of playing video or directing users to download the advertiser’s app.