Slow loading pages

[bd22012]

I pick an item to view, page never fully loads. I never see items. All other pages on the site load as they should. I noticed that the data transfer and page loading  coincides with the red blinking "X people have viewed in the last 24 hours." This is causing the page to reload continuously. I am unable to view anything on the page because it never finishes loading. Is there a way in settings to delete this annoying factoid? I don't give a **bleep** how many people looked at what I am interested in.

[eburtonlab]

@bd22012 

Browser or app? Latest version?

Any difference if you use another browser? Or a private or incognito browser window? Or if you temporarily disable add-ons?

[mudshark61369]

@bd22012 ,

If you use your device to do many things online, you may want to try clearing your temporary internet files and cookie cache then restart your device. Too many files or cookies can slow page loading down.  If you do not know how to clear your device do an online search for; How do I clear the cookie cache on my  Mfr. name phone/computer/tablet's operating system. 

[gurlcat]

I"m having the same thing.  Started suddenly last night.  I'm using Firefox on a Macbook.  Cleared my stuff, no improvement.  -I can navigate around my Seller account just as fast and nimbly as usual, but on eBay's public-facing pages, it's like dial-up days.  Search results, opening a listing, zooming photos, putting an item in the cart, EVERYTHING.  

[gurlcat]

Hey @bd22012  do you happen to use AdBlockPlus?  
I just had a hunch our slow-loading issue could maybe have the same problem as these 'disappearing item description' folks are having in a couple other threads, which turned out to be ad-block related.  So I turned of my AdBlockPlus for eBay just now, and POOF -100% fixed, no more constipation! 

@eburtonlab I think eBay must have done something (major?) to the site yesterday that ABP can't handle yet.  

[eburtonlab]

I think eBay must have done something (major?) to the site yesterday that ABP can't handle yet.

I think you are right -- either that or ABP has added a new rule or changed a setting that disproportionately affects item-specifics and descriptions.

Either it does not affect every listing or the problem may have been corrected, as I have re-enabled ABP and I can still see item-specifics and descriptions today.

[gurlcat]

Hmmm.  It appears to be a multi-variable issue.  See, I never had the missing item specifics or description thing, just extreme sluggishness loading pages or following any kind of command (like in the steps of buying an item). 

 I checked just now to see if it was 'safe' to re-enable ABP ..... nope.  I did a search and the results page was super slow to populate, then when I clicked on a listing it took 21 seconds to open.  Re-disabled ABP, back to instant responses.  

[eburtonlab]

I did a search and the results page was super slow to populate, then when I clicked on a listing it took 21 seconds to open. Re-disabled ABP, back to instant responses.

If your Ad Block Plus has ABP filters (a specific filter option) enabled, that has caused sluggish search results in the past. Those filters are similar to Ad Block's "Anti-circumvention" filters, which block things that seem to be trying hard to not look like ads but that still seem to be ads.

Or it may be worth trying a different ad blocker such as uBlock Origin if you want to be able to continue to block ads and not suffer sluggish loading.

[gurlcat]

🤣I have UBO too, because it's the only one that consistently blocks ads on Youtube (thus far).  

So do you think UBO is bada$$ and comprehensive enough that I should just ditch ABP altogether?  Or are there sites where ABP works and UBO doesn't?  

EDIT: Funny thing is, I've been selling on eBay since 2018 and only occasionally bought here before that, but I have no idea what the site looks like without any kind of ad blocker, because I've had one or more on since like 2008 or something.  -Does it do popups and stuff?  

[eburtonlab]

I actually have three different ad blockers installed in my primary browser, though only one has an active ad blocking subscription ("EasyList"); the others I use for creating custom blocking rules for things other than ads, such as the rows of promoted listings that eBay has begun inserting in the "Ended" section of the Watchlist.

In addition to Ad Block Plus I also use Ad Block and uBlock Origin. Each has slightly different point and click interfaces for creating custom rules, though the blocking rules themselves can be interchanged between the different blockers, and there are definite situations where one seems to work better than the others at highlighting particular page elements, at least for my own purposes.

Funny thing is, I've been selling on eBay since 2018 and only occasionally bought here before that, but I have no idea what the site looks like without any kind of ad blocker, because I've had one or more on since like 2008 or something.

Several years ago Firefox had a fit one day and all add-ons suddenly just stopped working completely. I found I had become so dependent on ad blockers just to be able to navigate many sites that I had to switch to a different browser and then spend half a day recreating all my custom ad blocking rules just to be able to post to the community. I find many pages just unusable without blocking redundant headers and flyover menus without scrolling halfway down the page just to see relevant information.

Firefox eventually fixed the issue that caused the add-ons to stop working a day later, but by then I was already comfortable using Firefox Developer Edition (despite not being a developer).