The sponsored items are driving me crazy. When I want to look at newly listed items for a particular item, the sponsored items show up at the top of the page and also at various places within the list. Since the sponsored items are not in order, date wise, is makes me think I am looking at items from a different date.
As noted, you can pay to sponsor your own items. I believe only fixed price listings, not auction items. Then ebay will make sure that it is at the top of any related search.