Ok dragging my feet, and decided taxes would be more fun. The following is information that you have requested @Anonymous along with being requested for my town hall question. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with Firefox and adblocker for these results. These results in the examples are purely based on the search engine's decisions and are not due to keyword spamming. There are other examples I can come up with. I have been taking a break from eBay though so I will have to bring them up as I remember them
Example #1: 256GB mSATA (Price lowest first and BIN only. Solid State Drives category auto selected by the search engine.)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=256gb+msata&_sacat=0&_sop=15&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1
- The cheapest drives are M.2 drives which is a totally different interface than mSATA. The best guess is item #'s like 333512364415 and 193352373483 show up in the results because the title has 256GB, the letter "M", and "SATA" in it. The keyword "mSATA" specified in the search does not show up in the listings or item specifics. There are more examples like those listings that are also incorrect.
- An egregious example of a false result is 114119461911. Everything in the listing is correct yet it shows up as a result. Best guess is the search engine is triggered on 256GB and the letter "M"
- Filtering by Interface -> mSATA doesn't do anything to help with inaccurate results.
Personally as a buyer I have needed to buy 256GB mSATA drives. I won't buy them on eBay anymore because I am not confident I can get the best deal. Also I don't wish to dig through a bunch of unrelated results due to how the search engine functions.
Example #2: Optiplex 320 (Price lowest first and BIN only. PC Desktops & All-In-Ones category auto selected by the search engine.)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=optiplex+320&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_odkw=256gb+msata&LH_BIN=1&rt=nc
Dell = Brand
Optiplex = Product Line
320 = Model
Most of these results are not Optiplex 320 (model) desktops. There are Optiplex 760, 780, 980, 990, 9010 and many other models in the results. The search engine is getting the "Optiplex" keyword right 100% of the time from what I can tell. However the search engine has decided anything goes when it comes to the "320" part. There are ways to filter around this as a savvy buyer such as adding -320GB to the search. That runs the risk of eliminating good deals though as there could be an Optiplex 320 with a 320GB hard drive in it. Also adding -320GB only eliminates a chunk of the inaccurate results. There are still other results that show up due to the ways sellers type in keywords for their titles. Even if a person wanted to use the "Model" filter in the item specifics they can't since it isn't an option for this model.
Example #3: i5-3570 (Price lowest first and BIN only. CPUs/Processors category auto selected by the search engine.)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=i5-3570&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_odkw=i5-3450&LH_BIN=1
Unrelated results show up due to how loosely the search engine uses keywords. Also includes models i5-3570S, i5-3570T, and i5-3570K. These different processors have different specs hence the different letters on the end. Also worth noting that in "Best Match" sort some inaccurate results show up higher up the list. This is how you have to search if you actually want the right model of processor:
i5-3570 -3570s -3570t -3570k
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=i5-3570+-3570s+-3570t+-3570k&_sacat=164&LH_TitleDesc=0&LH_PrefLoc=1&_sop=15&_osacat=164&_odkw=i3-2120+-2120s+-2120t&LH_BIN=1
Example #4: Lenovo T440 (Price lowest first and BIN only. PC Laptops & Netbooks category auto selected by the search engine.)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Lenovo+T440&_sacat=0&_sop=15&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1
This is a redundant example to go with #3 above. The T440S and T440P models show up in search due to how loosely the search engine uses keywords. Same deal as with #3. Different specs/configs/etc.
Example #5: Gigabyte 1150 Motherboard (Price lowest first and BIN only. Motherboards category auto selected by the search engine.)
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=Gigabyte+1150+Motherboard&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1
"Gigabyte" keyword is referring to the brand. "1150" is referring to the socket 1150 (For Intel processors) or more formally known as LGA 1150/Socket H3
- 273830732384 is a HP motherboard. It is socket 1150 as specified in the search. It is a motherboard. It is not a Gigabyte brand motherboard. Seller has the listing setup correctly.
- 183729007347 is an interesting anomaly. "1150" is in the title although it might be an error since I don't believe there is an "AMD XP 1150" model CPU. It is a motherboard. It is not a Gigabyte brand motherboard.
- 274167683869 is a Lenovo motherboard that supports an AMD processor. It is not compatible with socket 1150 Intel processors. It is a motherboard. It is not a Gigabyte brand motherboard. I searched for 1150 not SDH1150IAA3DE
- There are other examples of boards that don't match the search criteria by brand.
"Gigabyte" is a brand name. Many of these results are not "Gigabyte" brand motherboards. There are several results in this search that are beyond ridiculous. From what I can tell the search engine is deciding that anything with the letters "GB' in the listing is the same thing as the keyword "Gigabyte". Although GB is the abbreviation for gigabyte, Gigabyte is also a brand name. Using the item specifics Socket Type -> LGA 1150/Socket H3 combined with Brand -> Gigabyte fixes the results. A simpler option is to put "Gigabyte" in quotes for the search keywords. I am not convinced the average buyer is doing this though. Also I feel I shouldn't have to apply those filters if I am using the right keywords.
Interestingly enough searching for "4 gigabyte" gives 900K results. Another example of how anything goes when it comes to the search engine. Not sure why a buyer would type in gigabyte if they wanted "GB" results.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570.l1313&_nkw=4+gigabyte&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_sop=15&_osacat=0&_odkw=256gb+msata&LH_BIN=1&rt=nc
