Locked
Discussion interactions are currently paused.
Ebay search engine algorithm changed to be too general: PLEASE COMPLAIN ABOUT IT!
Some time during the past week or so eBay has changed its search engine algorithm so that anyone searching for a specific item will get hundreds of results instead of the few that actually apply. This has the result of frustrating potential buyers and harming both sellers and buyers.
For example a search for "November 1977 Byte Magazine" yields 326 results and the only way you can pare it down is to use the left side categories. Many buyers will not have the patience or skill to do this and will give up instead of being able to compare price and condition and make a purchase.
Worse, the results are not even close to what someone is looking for: Different years, different titles, some things that are not even magazines!
A week ago you would have simply gotten the 5 relevant results you needed.
Another example: 1958 Pennsylvania Railroad Brochure now yields an incredible 211 results, 99% of which are not from that year.
Why would anyone think this is a better way to do search? Please complain as the only way to get this changed back is to make your voices heard in large numbers!
kh-taylarie
·2 years agoDue to the age of this thread, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.
stevescho
·2 years agoYes, the search engine imploded when the original post in this thread occurred, returning a multitude of irrelevant results in saved searches. And hasn't changed since. It used to work, stopped working, and hasn't improved. What is it that eBay customers are supposed to do? Complain to who? Where?
eburtonlab
·2 years agoYes, the search engine imploded when the original post in this thread occurred, returning a multitude of irrelevant results in saved searches. And hasn't changed since. It used to work, stopped working, and hasn't improved. What is it that eBay customers are supposed to do?
If you are using Best Match sort, try a different sort order.
The search the OP was describing seems to work for me when not using "Best Match":
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=November+1977+Byte+Magazine&_sacat=0&_sop=10
I get seven results that all contain the relevant issue.
You can report the problem with "Best Match" to eBay using the "Tell us what you think" link on the search results page if you are using a desktop browser.
tiny0969
·2 years agoI've just done the same search on my phone and I get relevant results. Why on my Mac do I get utter rubbish but on my phone it's ok? So now I'll have to do my research on my phone and then I prefer listing stuff on my Mac. What a pain in the backside. Just putting me off selling on here as just making it so much harder and more time consuming
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI've just done the same search on my phone and I get relevant results. Why on my Mac do I get utter rubbish but on my phone it's ok?
Are you doing the same search on both devices? Is it possible your Mac is using a different sort order?
If you are using Best Match, try another sort order such as Newly Listed or Ending Soonest.
tiny0969
·2 years agoHi! This is making selling for me impossible as I always search for lowest price including postage and I try and price my item accordingly. Now I get a list of completely irrelevant items so if this is happening to me trying to research my own prices then it must be impossible for those buying. It's a joke!! Is the only way to complain by calling them or is there another method?
rcainal
·2 years agoI see they still have not fixed this issue. It is driving me crazy and basically makes this app so annoying that it is unusable. I will complain in feedback but it doesn’t appear it is helping our case.
jonnyd99
·2 years agoThere is definitely something wrong with eBay's search. I've been using it for years, mainly to seek motrocycle parts. Today when I do a search, it is listing items with NONE of the search terms I gave. As it stands, it's a total waste of time - and I mean that. I.e. if it doesn't go back to its old way of working, I won't bother to use it. Is it trying to emulate Amazon, where searches continually show up loads of rubbish? Amazon must think its users are stupid, as using it is such a trial of patience, not to mention the contnual listing of items that are out of stock!
eBay: please fix this, it's your bread and butter you're risking!
nopans0
·2 years agoEbay changed their search engine in october of 2018 and it has never been changed back, I went from selling 10 to 15 items a day to maybe 3 or 4 a week, complete joke anymore can't find anything on there.
505ridinghigh
·2 years agoI hate the new algorithm! It’s taking me too long to go through things and will buy elsewhere if this keeps up. Etsy did this and my buying has been almost zilch since.
little5r
·2 years agoI specifically searched to see if anyone else brought up how hard Etsy sucks just like this. Amazon does the same thing...eBay was the last holdout. It's especially gross when you search for something as specific as a phone screen protector! Stop showing results for phones that aren't compatible. What, you think I'll be so dazzled by these other fifty kinds of product that I'll buy a new phone? Hilarous. And as for the results that are teapots, mosquito nets, and sandals? Drop freaking dead, y'all.
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agoI can provide numerous examples.
Here is a general one. I sell lots of ancient coins. They are all graded by the NGC company.
A search for NGC graded coins of the Roman emperor Gordian would look like this.
Ebay search terms: NGC Gordian
There are 309 search results.
------------------------------------
If I want to be even more specific and want the highest grade coin, I use these search terms:
NGC Gordian MS
There are now 422 search results even though it is a more specific request.
The ebay search algorithm is inverted. The more specific criteria that I use......the more results that ebay provides. This is wrong and should be the exact opposite.
However if I use the following search criteria with NGC in quotes:
"NGC" Gordian MS
I now get 22 results. This is the accurate search.
The problem is........99% of ebay buyers don't search using quotes. Therefore most can't actually find the items that they are really looking for. This is really bad for sales.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoIf I want to be even more specific and want the highest grade coin, I use these search terms:
NGC Gordian MS
There are now 422 search results even though it is a more specific request.
The initial search was steered into a specific category due to the keywords used; adding additional keywords turns the specific search into a general search of all categories, which finds more results. By narrowing the search to the same category as before, the results are much more reasonable looking:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/4734/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ngc+gordian+ms&rt=nc&_oaa=1&_dcat=4734
A different general search that provides similar results:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ngc+ms+gordian+denarius&_sacat=0
And another general search:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ngc+ms+gordian+roman&_sacat=0
So even if buyers are not familiar with a particular search technique like using quotes or narrowing to a specific category, there are still many ways to get reasonable results if one search is not providing specific enough results.
grayroad79
·2 years agoI've been having the same problems last few months. Interestingly, it's only the US site. I sometimes use other country sites like Italy and they have not changed. I called to complain but they were not interested.
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agograyroad79 is correct. I just checked the ebay Canada website, and the algorithm works accurately there. It seems to be only an issue with the ebay US website.
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agoEbay’s search engine literally broke again a few days ago.
You can’t make this nonsense up. It will be broken for a week or 2 giving us irrelevant results, and then ebay will magically fix the issue.
This is embarrassing for a multi-billion dollar company. Quit jacking around with the search algorithm please. It is affecting our sales and our buyers ability to find our items. When we sellers and our buyers put in specific search criteria, we expect specific results. Stop giving us useless results!
PLEASE FIX THIS EBAY!
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agoThe search engine has broken again.
It literally reverted to it’s old poor search results nonsense today. It was working just fine yesterday.
Congratulations ebay. It worked for a whole 2 weeks before it started cluttering the search results with irrelevant items again.
This is NOT difficult. Quit messing with it!
eburtonlab
·2 years agoThe search engine has broken again.
It literally reverted to it’s old poor search results nonsense today. It was working just fine yesterday.
It will be broken for a week or 2 giving us irrelevant results, and then ebay will magically fix the issue.
What is not working, exactly?
It is possible that the problems are related to the specific keywords you are using, so others searching using different keywords may not be experiencing the same issue.
If the problem is limited to a specific search, use the "feedback" link on the search results page to report it to eBay developers. If it is a more general problem, please provide some details so that others can verify that the search is not working correctly or possibly suggest some ways around the problem.
lioneltom
·2 years agoMy Saved Search emails both yesterday and this morning were back to the usual 5-10 rather than 70-80, so somebody at eBay has reversed the Nov 14-15 change in their algorithm that generated the useless emails. Thank you eBay!
nilis13
·2 years agoThanks for the update. Maybe now I can actually make some sales.
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agoYay! Thank you ebay for fixing this monstrosity of an error!
It’s discouraging that the issue existed for over 5-6 weeks, but I am glad that it has been resolved. Hopefully it stays that way.
red.rock.rarities
·2 years agoThis is killing sales because I imagine it frustrates buyers when they can't find what they're looking for. It's very similar to the awful search algorithm on poshmark...not sure that's a model ebay would want to follow. I made a new ebay account for specialty items and I only notice the faulty search on that account. My old account seems to still have the old search algorithm that works properly. The new search is annoying when trying to do sales comps and "sell similar". I don't want to keep putting quotes around specific words all day...it really slows things down.
the_riel_deal
·2 years agoThis is a nightmare, i have dozens of saved searches for very specific/rare items... instead of a couple emails a week i am now getting dozens of emails every single day, each filled with hundreds of useless search results.
Off to see if I can submit a complaint somewhere right now.
cosmokazi
·2 years agoThe new algorithm searches "Any words" in my search instead of "All words." For instance, I look for a model rocket made by Estes, called Tartar. So, I normally get results back that only have listings with the Estes Tartar model rocket in them. However, I now get 59 items that contain the word "tar." Like Tar Heels, which is only part of my search term! Yes, I could put "Estes Tartar" in quotations, but it will only search for those 2 words in that order and next to each other. If someone lists an Estes Tartar rocket as "Estes Model Rocket," it will not appear in my search results! When I select "All words," it should look for ALL WORDS in the description! This is so frustrating!
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3519243.m570.l1312&_nkw=estes+tartar&_sacat=0
eburtonlab
·2 years agoFor instance, I look for a model rocket made by Estes, called Tartar. So, I normally get results back that only have listings with the Estes Tartar model rocket in them. However, I now get 59 items that contain the word "tar." Like Tar Heels, which is only part of my search term!
That sounds like a faulty keyword substitution issue.
As a workaround, try putting just one of your keywords in quotes to avoid any substitutions:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=estes+%22tartar%22&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0
Let eBay know about the faulty substitution by using the "Feedback" link on the search results page of the problematic search. The more users report such things, the more likely eBay is to look into the issue and ultimately fix it.
simba6
·2 years agoSame here.
kittysoftpaws2000
·2 years agoThis has gotten really bad as of late. Even if I'm super specific I end up with 800 results, none of which is what I wanted.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoEven if I'm super specific I end up with 800 results, none of which is what I wanted.
What are you searching for? Does the addition of quotes around one of your search keywords help your search?
eburtonlab
·2 years agoHow are you searching, exactly?
When I search for November 1977 Byte Magazine on eBay I get six results:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=November+1977+Byte+Magazine&_sacat=0&_sop=10
Five results for 1958 Pennsylvania Railroad Brochure :
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=1958+Pennsylvania+Railroad+Brochure&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=10
If you are using a saved search, try creating a new search; from time to time eBay changes categories around causing some old searches to break.
Or you may have run into a temporary glitch.
If you do run into a search that seems to be returning too many results that do not match, you can try changing your sort order to Best Match to rank the results by relevance. Or else put one of your keywords in quotes to eliminate keyword substitutions. Make sure you are not inadvertently searching item descriptions in addition to title and item-specifics.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoClicking on your links returned 326 results for the first and 212 for the second
eburtonlab
·2 years agoClicking on your links returned 326 results for the first and 212 for the second
What browser are you using? Do you get different results if you use a different browser or sign out of your account? Or if you clear your cache and manually delete just your eBay cookies?
There may be an issue with your browser interfering with your search results.
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agoI am having the exact same problem. It started a little over a month ago. Ebay changed something, and it is very frustrating.
Those search terms above give me 100s of results. This is happening on both the ebay app and on safari browser.
eburtonlab
·2 years agoI am having the exact same problem. It started a little over a month ago. Ebay changed something, and it is very frustrating.
Those searches that worked for me last month are now producing hundreds of results that do not appear to be relevant, so you may be correct.
If adding quotes around one of your keywords works for you, as it does for me, then that would seem to indicate that the problem is related to keyword substitution or one of the other "smart" search features.
Use quotes to solve your immediate search issue, and report the problematic searches to eBay using the "Feedback" link in the lower right corner of the search results page when using a desktop browser.
historical-treasures-rare-coins
·2 years agoThanks. I submitted a feedback response to ebay as you suggested.
It seems that the more words there are in a search, the more results Ebay provides (most are completely irrelevant).
This is completely backwards and frustrating for both buyers and sellers. The more specific the search, there should be LESS results.
This is definitely affecting my sales since buyers can not as easily find my specific items that they would have wanted. Search results are completely cluttered with non-wanted items. Putting a word in quotes definitely helps, but 99% of buyers don’t know to do this.
Ebay…….please fix the broken search engine!
eburtonlab
·2 years agoThanks. I submitted a feedback response to ebay as you suggested.
You are welcome -- thanks for submitting that report. I still hold out hope that if enough users report such issues eBay will address this problem.
It seems that the more words there are in a search, the more results Ebay provides (most are completely irrelevant).
This is completely backwards and frustrating for both buyers and sellers. The more specific the search, there should be LESS results.
Adding additional keywords should result in fewer results returned, and usually that is the case. There are a few minor exceptions where that may not happen.
Since each keyword should appear in all the returned results, adding an extra keyword should eliminate any previous result not containing that keyword, and nothing should be added that was not already present in the previous results. That is how it usually works.
Regarding the exceptional cases: Certain keywords can cause a search to be steered into a particular category. Sometimes adding more keywords causes the search to be kicked back into "all categories" once more; in that case more keywords can result in more results (in more categories). And if a search finds no results at all, eBay may drop some keywords or substitute keywords to widen the search and find something to show a potential buyer.
But in general, adding more keywords should return fewer results as you would expect. If the search is working correctly.
paytonrules2003
OP2 years agoPutting quotations around one item in the keyword phrase does help. Thank you for that. Again, this is something we never had to do in the past.
sun_day_red
·2 years agoErm… no when I search Mizuno MP14 irons I get every model of MP Mizuno irons ever made when there is only 5 listings of the actual model, eBay is brain dead and they change things all the time, it used to work well like 5 years ago, there’s a saying, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix itâ€