Etsy Ads - Showing on all promoted listings - Searches that led to this ad (0)

[BestResumes]

Hello, 

My Etsy Ads stats are completely wrong. All promoted listings show Searches that led to this ad (0) and no keywords to see.  I cannot upload a screenshot, but one listing had 258 clicks in the last 30 days, but no keywords to show. I checked the stats on the Etsy seller app and the stats are the same as on a desktop. 

I've been reporting this since Monday, but no answer nor response.

Please advise. 

Many thanks! 

[PrevntProducts]

Trust your instincts friend.

Bumping this thread, hoping people can provide some insight here

Just curious, how long have these ads been on for your products? Have they been turned off at all in the last 30 days?

I suggest going to your "stats" page on your dashboard, then down to "direct and other traffic" and look for fishy outside traffic sources as well. Last year in particular been seeing 1,000's of clicks from known click fraud websites. These are supposed to get corrected, and stats reflect said correction. The reality in my store has been different.

Repeating the step above for "Etsy search" and other categories on the stats page, hopefully provides some more insight.

[BestResumes]

It's been on for over 2 years and I never had this problem. Basically, I'm not able to turn off irrelevant keywords which is a problem. 

It's sad to see that I spend like $300+ each month on Etsy Ads, yet there is no support at all. 

I'll try to contact their customer service. 

[FallsAveVintage · Accepted solution]

Other sellers have posted about this issue. One said they manually removed irrelevant keywords only to have Etsy add them back again. No one mentioned a solution and support only gives cookie cutter answers.

Etsy search isn't keyword/relevancy based any longer. Search is specific to the buyer and it uses AI to predict what that buyer might want to buy based on that buyer's previous searches/purchases. It may also show listings that are frequently bought together - that sort of thing.

My theory is that Etsy adds all those useless keywords to ensure that every ad is displayed somewhere even when it's not relevant. This explains why when you search for something specific, irrelevant ads always show up.

I find this to be especially true in vintage where buyers are often looking for very specific items/eras, etc. Vintage sellers are also less likely to advertise but we get clobbered with offsite ads so also paying for Etsy ads is both ridiculous and costly.

[BestResumes]

I cannot remove the keywords as I cannot see any of them which is the problem.

My intention is not to start a discussion about Etsy Ads, however Etsy "organic" search and Etsy Ads are two completely different algorithms. 

[DougsVintageStore]

I tried ads in January of last year, didnt work with any success. A search for a vintage toy showed bathroom or dining room items.

Sounds like its still broken.

[GlassyFields]

wow ... but that makes sense

I've done some searches lately for very specific things and see so much quasi related and totally unrelated stuff that I give up and don't buy what I want or anything else.

[CornelDawn]

I have the same issue @BestResumes. I will also try to report it.

[BestResumes]

Thank you! Hopefully it will get fix soon. 

[Abundness]

Nobody else has the same problem? I contacted the customer service chat, but each time it's the AI bot and not a human.

[SolaWearCo]

I have the same problem, not sure for how long but when I last looked on Tuesday this week it was exactly as you describe.

Very frustrating especially as over night I spent it says over £500 but its all wrong as my budget is set on £100 day - I quickly dropped the budget to £5 as Im just throwing money away .....and have no control to turn off irrelevant keywords.

[DroppingPixel]

I do have the same problem. It's been going on for a while for me. I have contacted them about it when one of my listings was in the thousands of views with ZERO keywords for it. Contacting them didn't fix it and the only solution was to disable this listing from the ads. Etsy ads are such a mess. Even now the views and keywords showing don't add up pretty much for all listings.

[BestResumes · Accepted solution]

They stopped showing on all of my listings over a week ago in both of my shops. I thought we had some control over Etsy ads. However, this was in an email from an Etsy agent:

Turning off non-relevant keywords in Etsy Ads are still available here on Etsy.
You can use the toggle to turn off keywords that aren’t relevant. This is part of a test to help us improve ad targeting. It will not directly impact your ads.

I asked if the toggle option was taken away from the sellers. It turns out we don't have control at all over Etsy Ads. 

I'll stop using them as it doesn't make sense to pay for something we have zero control over. 

[Pyramidappareldesign]

Turn the Esty Ads off. Artificial Intelligence is in charge and designed to make Esty money regardless of conversion metrics. As long as Etsy is in charge of the keywords used for the Ads, at least 99% of advertisers will lose money.

The Etsy Ad system is a very clever way to monetize junk traffic.

[PinkCoyoteJewelry]

I am not sure I understand where the ads are appearing, or not appearing?

[LPPSB]

Same here, the search terms that led to my Ads are showing zero, although my listings receive enough traffic for Etsy system to provide search term analytics. This is a recurring issue in my shop. I have contacted Etsy support 4 days ago, but still no answer nor fix.

[PaperCrateUK]

I have the same issue, and have experienced it for over a week now. I have contacted Etsy support twice but am provided with silly answers and  solutions that do not even relate to the problem. They seem to be able to see the data their end so they are struggling to understand the issue, and are therefore putting it down to user error, which just isn't the case. 

Additionally, I also witness a very brief error message pop up just before the ad screen loads. Does anyone experience this? 

[howtobooksandmore]

For those wanting to see Etsy "fix" this problem, please note that it is not a problem.  The ad system is working exactly as Etsy designed it to - to make money for Etsy.  When the system was last overhauled, Etsy noted that the limit on the daily ad spend could be spent in one day but wouldn't exceed the weekly limit.  Sellers with a $1 day limit were shocked when their bill came to $5 in one day.  As more and more sellers decide to stop using the ads, expect more irrelevant ads to be shown for the keywords Etsy decides to use.  Further drops in the Etsy ads will probably cause an increase in the cost for those using that system.  The seller has never had control over their ad budget, the keywords used by Etsy or any other aspect of the ad system.

[FallsAveVintage]

@howtobooksandmore Exactly. Etsy loves to use up your ad spend and they'll stick your ad in where ever they can.

Not too many vintage sellers spend a lot on ads so when you search for vintage, the ads that display are ridiculously irrelevant. Of course, you won't pay unless a viewer clicks through but your ad is still useless.

Think this is why sellers are reporting their ad budgets aren't being used up. Thought it had more to do with ad competition but it's also because they're displaying ads to people who have no interest so no clicks. And then Etsy will tell you they are displaying your ads - just not when and where. Google Ads work the same way.