Video in the most visible ad slot on search

Items with video were about 0.4% of listings but drove 7 times the GMV of items without. Promoted listings with video were 1.5% of ad inventory and 11% of its GMV. Putting video in the most visible slot on search lets a buyer see what an item does without leaving the page.

I wrote the Featured Item Card PRD: the placement, its design, item selection and the testing plan. The video version was my idea within it. I set the video rules and quality controls, led the experiment rounds and the launch recommendation, then worked with my manager to get the launch approved.

1. 1Video first, not video only: when no video item wins the slot, it shows images, so launch didn’t wait for video supply.
2. 2Quality first: only videos from an approved list of sellers, each reviewed by hand. A bad video in the most visible slot does more damage than none.
3. 3Fair pricing: video items clear at the reserve price, because the video check ran after the auction set prices. Sellers aren’t charged for mechanics they didn’t opt into.
4. 4Processing timing: videos got IDs before they finished processing. An interim check kept unready videos out while the lasting fix, video details in the search index, was built.