We wrote recently about the use of videos on eBay listings and how you will be able to continue using them even when the new Active Content rules comes into force in the Summer. Find the article here: What about videos and the new eBay Active Content rules?
There was a little confusion on what sellers would need to do to continue using videos in listings. But hep is at hand.
Jim Griffith, known to many as Uncle Griff, has worked for eBay for many years and is active in the seller community and has clarified the situation with a posting on Facebook. You likely have an account and so can access the full information here.
But here’s the gist of what he says: “Starting in June, eBay will start blocking the display of active content in item descriptions. The listings themselves will still be accessible to buyers but any added features that use active content (for example, Flash, Javascript, iframes etc) will not display.
The big question on many sellers’ minds is “How do I embed a YouTube video into my description?” YouTube’s current embed code will not work on eBay (it uses iframes and they are not supported inside an eBay description).
There is a way using eBay compliant-HTML 5.0 tags for “object”
Here is the block of HTML code that we will use to embed a video into a current listing:
<div style=”text-align: center;”><object data=”paste_URL_here” type=”text/html” width=”420″ height=”315″></object></div>
So,the good news is that you can continue to use videos using HTML5. But how big a task is it going to be for you to amend your listings?
18 Responses
great stuff thank you
No code, just a quotation mark?
no code??
The code from his post is here:
Someone didn’t ready this article before hitting that post button…. tut tut
I’ve tried the above solution within the currently disclosed method of blocking active content (<iframe src=”ebay_hosted_listing.html” sandbox=”allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox”></iframe>) and I’m afraid that embedded YouTube video still doesn’t work on the latest versions of Google Chrome and Firefox.
It seems that “allow-scripts” is the parameter that unlocks the “object” tag – and they won’t add this.
My guess is that Jim Griffith might have got it wrong this time.
Maybe eBay will change the blocking method?
Hi Folks,
I haven’t had a chance to test this yet but it may be useful:
https://www.isdntek.com/tagbot/YouTubeConverter.htm
Can I suggest that TameBay change their styling for hyperlinks, grey hyperlinks against grey text is not the easiest to spot.
Or at least underline links?
I have the code for eBay figured out and it works. I have a picture of the code at this link.
https://files.secureserver.net/0suxLJ11hzIZgv
Trouble is, you need to host your videos somewhere and I can’t find anywhere to host them that doesn’t use a public link to share. And that’s a lot of listings for me to change.
Though far from ideal will eBay permit a link to say your product video on YouTube put on the listing just as that? The URL and nothing more.
Rick, That technically doesn’t follow the policy, see:
https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/listing-links.html
it says The video should be embedded in the listing
Not sure if the code above is compliant or not
Also, it may just be the Apple eBay app that is affected. I found this.
What is changing with Apple security?
Apple provides a security feature called App Transport Security (ATS) to all iOS apps and app extensions. ATS is enabled by default and ensures all HTTPS connections use industry recommended standards.
How does this affect my listings?
If you have customized item description or other content that includes images, links, and other URLs that are not hosted by eBay and the hosting sites are not ATS compliant, these images and links will not work as expected on devices and applications that meet the latest industry security standards.