PayPal is now serving Ads on Checkout Pages...? (Confirmed with Screenshot) Have you seen this?

I think I have seen ads on paypal page (but not netflix, can't remember what was it excaclty), But what about those adds?

yes I saw it yesterday but today nothing .

I haven't seen any ads on my PayPal. I will let you know if I do in the future.

It seems really odd.

They are a payment processor...processing payments.

Seems a bit "iffy" to be offering advertising on the checkout page. I should have clicked the NetFlix ad to see what happened or if it loaded in a new page.

I'd love to know if they are allowing folks to buy that ad space...guaranteed buyer eyeballs.

no not seen any either

It is ok, I think PayPal need some extra cash after shutting million of peoples off the website

A few months back, I noticed another Warrior mentioned something similar...but didn't receive any replies.

He thought the ads might be served by this company: Landing | Users | Veruta

He was looking at the URL of the ads being served.

I didn't check that...though I'm kicking myself now that I didn't do that.

Guess I'll just have to hope they serve me another ad soon so I can see who is serving these.

I was hoping you would chime in.

Should've grabbed a screenshot.

Now I'm going to scrub this machine to make sure I don't have some type of virus.

Weird.

The ad appeared directly below the "Return to Merchant" button and was a Netflix free trial (Big red display ads) that you couldn't help be notice.

Has anyone thought to ask PayPal on this matter?

I have seen ads once or twice on check out pages. Paypal could be split testing to see if serving ads would a generate money and b what kind of reaction they would get from serving the ads. You could have also still been on that websites (the one you purchased from) check out still sometimes some websites will have paypal check out fully integrated with in the check out process.

So if you have ads on the payment confirmation page, which you often need to click back to the vendor from to finish your transaction. Wouldn't that create a lot of headache if people start clicking off to a Netflix offer?

I definitely saw a Netflix ad today on two checkout pages after payment was made.

Yes, I have once when buying a wso. I thought maybe it had to do with software serving up an ad as the order was processed.

Was yours when buying a wso or otherwise?

Jeannie,
Yes...this was when paying for a WSO Bump...Interesting...

Yeah...I didn't click on the link to see what it would have done...I'm assuming it would open in a new page, but I don't know.

In this case, I had just completed the payment and was on the payment confirmation page...the page where you would then click the "Return to Merchant" button. So it is clearly a PayPal page and not a third party page.

Here you go:



I saw the same thing with every purchase I've made in the last 2 days.

Good...then it's not just me.

I was starting to wonder if I had landed in the twilight zone.

Hmm...I'm not so sure about the justification here.

Since I have entered into an agreement with them to process my payments, for my customers, I'd prefer they spend their own money finding potential customers and advertise to them separately.

Also...what happens when they start promoting offers that are highly related to the purchase that was just made...at what point would they then be promoting my competitors products just after they had made a purchase?

Who knows...

If someone has a chance to grab the actual code of the page, I'd love to look through it and see who is serving these ads...and especially if this is now ad space that can be purchased...

Mmm. Hmm.

This is a seriously awesome display ad sweet spot.

I sure hope Netflix is tracking every click separately from this page and retargeting these eyeballs.

I sure hope so.

I will say that the only ad I have seen so far has been this Netflix free trial offer.

I'd love to know what Netflix is paying to have these ads served on the thank you page.

OK...so I was finally served one of these ads again.

They are definitely split testing these ads.

Today, I got an eBay ad...not Netflix.

And I was able to get the actual code for the ad.

The image in the ad is being hosted on their securepics.ebaystatic.com server, but the ads themselves are being served from altfarm.mediaplex.com which is a pretty well known Adserver.

More info on them can be found here: Mediaplex

I'm not sure about the Netflix connection...

But even though PayPal owns eBay, it seems a bit cheesy to be serving ads on the checkout pages for third parties they have agreed to process payments for.

eBay certainly sells all kinds of items that a customer might have just purchased at full price from you as a third party.

What's next.

Update: By hitting the F5 key, you can rotate through many of these ads. Here are some other vendors they are currently running ads for: Walmart, Overstock.com, Toys R Us, Ebay, Nautica, Netflix, Rue La La...

Where to buy PayPal ad? Does anyone know? It could be profitable to buy it, who knows.

Hang on, so let me get this straight? A company is adding extra advertising on their site to make more money?

Ring the alarm bells!

The key words being "their site"

I don't see any problem with PayPal placing advertising on their site when it isn't part of a payment process.

But these ads are being shown during the checkout process for a service they agree to provide to vendors, like yourself.

Using this same "their site" logic, why shouldn't they just place ads at the initial checkout page, before the purchase is made.

Imagine that. Then when someone clicks the ads on their site, it takes them away from the checkout page they were going to make a purchase on.

It's just a slippery slope.

Right now these ads are for Netflix, Walmart, eBay, etc...but what happens when they start serving highly targeted ads based on past purchases...which directly compete with a purchase just completed.

Judging by the URL's of the images, I don't think you can buy these ad placements...I think PayPal is testing them using Mediaplex at the moment.

It looks like the ads being served are coming from this directory of sites:

https://shopping.paypal.com/index

I think it's a pretty cheap place to put an advert.

PayPal have far to much power and this just goes to show they can do whatever they want and people will, mainly because they have to, continue using them.

What they should be doing is targetting the offer to what the person purchased and perhaps offering it as a 'ONE TIME OFFER!!'. Maybe they should hire a huge team to work on info products that relate to what the persons purchased.. damn, put it on the page before people buy so they can buy a better alternative..!

It's only a matter of time..

I'm also not a fan of that new real time counter of how many PayPal transactions there has been every day.

Saying that I use them everyday!

I only hope your being sarcastic.

Seriously though, imagine this happening in the offline world.

You hire a payment processing company to setup your credit card terminal.

You pay them a fee for every transaction, and pay your own advertising to get more customers.

Then...you notice that on every receipt you print out, there is a big, bold picture that says "Save 50% off by shopping at another store next time"...which really means "You could have saved yourself 50% if you only knew where to shop.."

Maybe at first, when the ad is for $2 off milk, and you only sell electronics, you might not mind too much.

But then, over time, the ads start offering $10 off data storage.

And then, six months later, the ads start showing for products nearly identical to those just purchased.

Of course I'm being sarcastic.. but the fact remains PayPal can do whatever they like. One of the reasons they 'merged' with eBay was because they were threatened another payment processor would barge there way in.

It's obvious it's after the transaction. The problem is PayPal can do whatever they want. What if they divert your customer towards a competitors product after they've paid. Imagine if that $9.95 was for a DVD.. and instead of going back to that web store the buyer is now going to use NetFlix!

As Jack said, if this happened in the offline world you wouldn't be impressed.

But whatever, at the end of the day.. it's business!

Really?

Hmm...let's think about this one for a second.

What about your OTO..that they aren't going to see now, because they just clicked a Walmart ad?

Or what about those refund requests you get because the customer just found out that the very same 4gb thumb drive they just purchased from you can be had for 50% off from the Walmart ad they just clicked.

Actually, let's just drive this point home.

Are you selling ad space right now on your Thank you page?

I'd love to buy it. It'd be money well spent for sure.

And it I promise it won't affect your purchases in any way.

Well, I understand what you are saying.

But the reason for the thread was to point out that this is NEW and I never signed an agreement that allows them to serve my customers ads during the checkout process.

I'm all for choice.

Just don't try to slip this under the radar.

Prior to reading this thread, I'll bet you didn't know they were doing this.

How's that for choice?

Yes.

The ads I have seen have been for purchases completely unrelated to eBay, Walmart, etc.

Some have been for other Warriors.

The thing is PayPal never had these adverts to begin with.

Now they have the power to add them (they obviously had this somewhere in there terms when we signed up - you know the 10 page terms and conditions!).

There's hardly any competition so they know they can do it.

It's pretty cheap if you ask me.

But as you said.. I will continue to use them! (no real alternative!).

Well, Paypal can do what they want on their site. They are the owner.

What a coincidence, I just sat down with some pop corn



Chris

Yeah..that's the thread I was also referring to earlier as well.

Good thing I don't place many bets.

I'm going to have to read over the terms and conditions again to see if it has been placed in there.

However, they aren't stupid either.

If this was widespread knowledge, you know there would be more talk about it than there is.

Any payment processor who is in an agreement to process payments for third parties should have to make it very clear that they have an intention of serving ads during the checkout process.

Especially since this step is still within the original purchasing funnel...the customer has yet to return to the merchant for the product they just purchased. It's the last place you want your competitor's ad to be displayed.

Paypals new motto.

"Paypal, we'll get your money eventually.."

Yes, I saw the netflix ad on the download page, today. Those banners are so red and noticeable, it makes me wonder if I ever saw any paypal ads on thank you pages, before. I certainly can't remember seeing any.

But Netflix would be a great offer for them to promote, for sure.

Anyway, I don't know how I feel about it, but not much I can do about it at the moment, so I ain'ts going to worry about.

I'm actually happy that PayPal decided to do this. Hopefully it will cost them some of the trust factor they have worked so hard to build and will make it easier for us internet marketers to switch to other payment processors

I just can't believe if PayPal is showing Ads on their website. I mean, that sounds more like a Joke. They are the most used Online Bank, so why would they want to serve ads.

There is a big difference between ads being show before payment is completed and showing an ad afterwards.

For those assuming eBay/PayPal's legal counsel has vetted showing the ads - after a decade of dealing with their legal department you are giving the company wayyy to much credit.

On the one hand, many grocery stores will print coupons for products, sometimes competitive products, based on what you just purchased.

On the other hand, those store coupons are provided after product delivery.

It is not clear if PayPal is distinguishing between an order for a physical product and a digital product.

That is, is PayPal showing ads after payment is made, but before digital product delivery, and while PayPal is obligated to redirect a purchaser to a download page as setup with a pay now button?

There are other potential differences as well.

Such as whether the PayPal process is integrated on your website and ads are being forced on you site.

At a grocery store you are not required to accept an offered coupon. Ad viewing by PayPal is being forced.

(I could be wrong, but the placement of ads on grocery store receipts has disappeared where I'm at. This is very similar.)

There is a contractual relationship with PayPal that does not exist with the grocery store; and PayPal has duties and responsibilities to you that a grocery store does not have.


I like the idea of using the site feedback and complaining. You should do it right now.

.

I saw new ads today:



I decided to click on it and to my amazement, it did not even open in a new window! It actually interrupted my checkout process and I could not "return to merchant" because the window redirected to their ad vendor.

That is extremely not cool.