eBay is preparing to ban third-party “buy for me” agents and AI chatbots from interacting with its platform without consent.
This ban is part of the e-commerce platform’s recent updates. terms of servicefirst noticed in report through value-added resources and is scheduled to take effect on February 20th.
The new terms prohibit the use of “any robot, spider, scraper, data mining tool, data gathering and extraction tool, or other automated means (including without limitation biformee agents, LLM-driven bots, or end-to-end flows that attempt to place orders without human review)” without eBay’s permission.
The Value-Added Resources report noted that previous versions of the agreement banned robots, spiders, scrapers and automated data collection tools, without specifically mentioning artificial intelligence (AI) agents.
PYMNTS wrote about the dilemma last month Face to face with e-commerce companies When it comes to agent commerce, Amazon has moved to prevent third-party AI shopping tools from accessing its site.
“New tools from AI companies allow consumers to search for products, compare prices, and complete purchases within a chatbot, bypassing traditional retail sites entirely,” the report states. “That change threatens Amazon’s direct relationship with shoppers, its advertising business, and its ability to manage the data that drives conversion and loyalty.”
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Amazon has so far taken a defensive stance, updating the code on its website to keep out dozens of AI bots, including agents with ties to major AI companies, the report continued. We have also filed a lawsuit in court regarding this issue. puzzled More than 1 year AI browser agent They can claim unauthorized access to your site and make purchases on your behalf.
At the same time, Amazon is investing heavily in its own AI products, such as shopping chatbots. rufus And “Buy for Me” is an experimental agent that lets you buy from other retailers within Amazon’s app.
“For leaders in payments and commerce, Amazon’s rebalancing method provides a clear signal,” PYMNTS wrote. “As AI agents move from novelty to infrastructure, the battle over who controls the checkout experience and the payment rails behind it is entering a critical stage.”
eBay is also investing heavily in AI. Last year, the company AI assistant For messaging that uses information from the seller’s listing description and order details to suggest replies to customer questions about products and shipping.
In announcing its financial results early last year, the company characterized the previous year as follows: “transformative” When it comes to AI, we have introduced new tools for both sellers and buyers.
