Etsy Ads turned on by Themselves!! >:(

[PlatypusDream]

I came home today to find an email with the message "Your Etsy Ads campaign is now live." 

This message freaked me out because I did not turn on ads. I logged in to my Etsy store and sure enough, Etsy ads were turned on.

Thanks GOODNESS my shop is on vacation and no money has been spent. I immediately turned them off. 

I see this has been reported by other sellers as well.

It is a VERY unwelcome occurrence that needs to be addressed by Etsy. Right now all it looks like is a money grab by Etsy. What if I hadn't seen that email, or it had gone to spam??

[audreytherese]

Back in the summer of '23 they spontaneously turned on my offsite ads (I'm not forced in and watch my numbers closely so I can go on vacation if/when I get close). I know for a fact that I didn't turn them on and first caught it when I was going through the steps to walk someone through how to check if they were on and turn them off. Thought maybe I got lucky. Until of course 2 weeks later I get hit with a charge for one. I wasn't the only one, there were a few posts about it on Reddit around the same time (I was in time-out from here at the time, so not sure if anyone brought it up in the forums). I still check it at least once a month to make sure they haven't opted me back in again.  

[MullinGraphics]

I do have EtsyAds but they're all over the place today. Every time I check them the number is drastically different. Sometimes zero, and then right back up, then back down. Like a light switch. There is definitely some issue

[QueenBJwlry]

Same here, etsy ads stats are not correct today, if you refresh and make a few clicks you get different stats each time. ETSY please fix this issue!

[Rosenart]

Same here. It's been like that for more than a week now. Not sure if this is another experiment, or a glitch.

[dayspringcollectible]

Ethically, I don't trust Etsy one bit.  It would not surprise me at all if this is intentional on their part to gain some income before the seller discovers it.  It keeps happening, and shouldn't if it is a glitch that gets fixed.

[PlatypusDream]

My shop is on vacation and has been since Friday.

Why on earth would I turn on Ads when my shop is on vacation??

It must be a serious glitch.

[HouseofWhisperingFir]

@PlatypusDream 

I think the question here should be "why did Etsy turn on Ads when I am on vacation?".   Obvious answer: because you wouldn't notice while basking in sunny Belize.

(bad nesting)

[ChillwolfArt]

Good thing you noticed. And Thank You for the Heads Up so others can be aware. This glitch should have been fixed. No reason for it to carry on.
Bumpity Bump Bump.

[PlatypusDream]

Thanks for the bump.

How many other shops are going through this but haven't noticed?

[ArtDollsbyJD]

Well there may be a reason this happens and it may not be a glitch but the result of when Etsy changes any programming.  There can be an unwarranted effect that affects a few sellers.  It's unpredictable.  Programmers don't always know that something they are doing can result in something being tripped for some, not all.

I spoke once with a programmer far more knowledgeable than me about this for my other job and she informed me that the tiniest 'mistake' can have unwarranted results and it may not become apparent until after all is said and done. And it's not necessarily a mistake.  For example Etsy is based on old programming which still exists down deep in the programming.  Though a great deal had been changed over the years, remnants of the old programming still exist.  A change by a programmer can unwittingly call forth this old programming which then affects sellers.  Maddening thing for Etsy is these bumps don't effect everyone so they cannot easily trace what caused the issue.

Looking for a needle in a haystack. 

[Alfven]

@PlatypusDream if you've been charged any money it's worth challenging with Etsy. Last year when lots of people had Ad campaigns started without permission I was able to get a refund after speaking with an agent

[PlatypusDream]

@Alfven 

Thankfully I caught it right away, and my shop was on vacation, so no money was spent.

[DivineCrossings]

@PlatypusDream @Thanks for the heads up! The first thing I did was run to my shop manager to double check and…whew! I’m ok - for now. It’ll just be another thing I’ll have to double check every day….oh goody. I hope this is resolved for you asap. I swear this place is like the twilight zone….ghostly happenings in the deserted ruins of an office building that used to house Etsy. No one there but the ghosties and some very misguided bots.

[timelapse]

@DivineCrossings - and any business worth its salt would NOT be so filled with glitches every single day!!!

[Adorabilities]

Is it even possible for to edit a shop while it's on vacation? I think that would be the proof to Etsy that there's no way you could have done this yourself. 

[NancyQstudio]

Sounds like they might be either testing or making changes in this area.  Glitches seem to be increasing on Etsy lately.  I've assumed this is due to programming changes.  Etsy ads are one of their main revenue streams, so this is the first thing that came to my mind.   Regardless, this is unacceptable.  

[PlatypusDream]

Just a note... When I turned the Ads off Etsy prompted me to fill out a survey about why I had turned ads off... and what would convince to to turn them back on. NOTHING will convince me now!

Then, when I went back to my Seller Dashboard there was a new prompt to TURN ADS ON - it said I was in the top whatever percentage of shops that would benefit from Ads.

All that did was boil my blood!!!

[ChillwolfArt]

@PlatypusDream This is a pretty big glitch. No one should be on Vacation, and accidentally discover Ads having been erroneously turned on by Etsy. Admin does monitor this Forum, and you did post in Tech. Issues. So they are definitely aware of this glitch and can forward this to the appropriate tech team.  It needs to be done.