From The Verge · Mia Sato · · 1m 50s
eBay blocks Meta's Muse and other AI shopping agents
eBay has shut down third-party AI agents including Meta's Muse from browsing its platform, the latest retailer to restrict bot access to e-commerce sites.
In brief
eBay has shut down third-party AI agents including Meta's Muse from browsing its platform, the latest retailer to restrict bot access to e-commerce sites. eBay has blocked third-party AI agents like Meta's Muse from accessing its site, joining other retailers in restricting bot access despite Silicon Valley's push for…
Muse blocked from eBay
A reader's Meta Muse agent could no longer pull watch listings from eBay this weekend. Muse said it was blocked from the site. The Verge confirmed the block with other search requests.
What Muse used to do
For several weeks, the reader's Muse agent browsed eBay daily, curating a digest of watches with links to listings, prices, shipping details, and notes about condition or style.
eBay's stated position
eBay spokesperson Sybille St. Arromand said the company takes a selective approach to third-party access. eBay has restricted agent access in certain cases, including unauthorized scraping and training on its data.
“We have restricted agent access in certain cases, including unauthorized scraping and training on our data.”
eBay's earlier ban
eBay previously updated its user agreement to ban tools like buy-for-me agents and LLM-driven bots that place orders without human review. Until recently, agents like Muse could still browse.
How other retailers respond
Amazon blocks external agents entirely. Target allows agents to browse in some cases but blocks them in others. Shopify opened its billion-listing catalog for agents to purchase items on behalf of shoppers.
Actual agent adoption is tiny
Uber fulfilled only four rides via third-party agents in Q three. DoorDash fulfilled only several hundred orders via third-party agents last quarter, out of nine hundred ninety-three million total orders.
The broader problem
Retail sites assume they sell to humans with human limitations, not swarms of bots. The Verge found someone used Muse to hold products hostage on The RealReal by repeatedly adding them to cart.
The big picture
eBay has blocked third-party AI agents like Meta's Muse from accessing its site, joining other retailers in restricting bot access despite Silicon Valley's push for an AI agent shopping revolution.
