eBay

tincan630 · ‎05-14-2021

For the last couple of weeks clicking on the search bar no longer produces the list of Items that I have searched for over the years. I'm now getting: "recent searches", "saved searches" and "saved sellers". Previously I could type one letter of a word and get a drop down that allowed me to search from item to item without wasting time. I used to have an option to Hide Ebay suggestions and apparently now I'm stuck with them. I've called and complained and I get "patted on the head" with no results. My previous searches still appear in advance search but going to advanced search all the time is tedious. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!!!!

eburtonlab · ‎05-14-2021

This appears to be something new -- thanks for pointing that out.

I am still able to see past searches by typing a letter or two, and I believe you should as well, unless my account is acting differently because I previously used the "hide eBay suggestions" feature shortly before it went away:

The results for me appear to be heavily weighted to saved searches and sellers (indicated by a heart icon) rather than history (indicated by a clock icon), and of course generic eBay suggestions below that. That may either be a limitation of the amount of searches retained by eBay, or else I have not done that many new searches since the last time I use the "Clear all" feature on the Recently Viewed page to reset things.

If you are looking for the saved keywords from past searches that your browser has retained, instead of using the standard search bar found on most eBay pages, go to the Advanced Search page:

The drop-down on the Advanced Search page appears to retain about a thousand keyword entries as long as you do not clear your browser saved form data.

tincan630 · ‎05-14-2021

Thanks for your interest in my problem. I too noted in my message that the previous searched items are still available in advanced search but that's "about as handy as a pocket in your underwear"!

eburtonlab · ‎05-14-2021

Yes, I tend to use the Advanced Search drop-down only as a last resort if nothing else works.

I prefer to keep track of most searches by bookmarking -- at least for the important searches that I run over and over again. I store the bookmarks in folders located on my Firefox browser toolbar: two or three dozen searches per folder. I can find individual searches if necessary, but most of the time I run all the searches in an entire folder at once, using a right-click and "open all in tabs" on the folder.

My bookmarks and add-ons are shared between computers using my Mozilla account, and the bookmarks can be imported to other browsers if necessary.

eburtonlab · ‎09-29-2021

velvet@ebay

This thread has some background regarding tincan630's post on the weekly chat about the search bar.

Previously it was possible to use a link to "hide" eBay's largely useless search suggestions in the general search bar -- doing so would allow the search bar drop-down menu to act the way the current Advanced Search page bar does and display all the saved search terms that the browser has stored as form data.

Now there is no longer a "hide" option available, and at the moment the only way to see all the past search keywords is to actually go to the Advanced Search page each time.

Here is an older thread with some images of how things used to work:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Share-eBay-Technical-Issues/How-to-hide-ebay-s-search-suggestions/m-p/...

At one point the "hide" option disappeared from most eBay pages, but could still be found on the community pages -- at least until the community pages were redesigned to no longer include an eBay search bar, just a community search.

velvet@ebay · ‎09-30-2021

@eburtonlab wrote:

velvet@ebay

This thread has some background regarding tincan630's post on the weekly chat about the search bar.

Previously it was possible to use a link to "hide" eBay's largely useless search suggestions in the general search bar -- doing so would allow the search bar drop-down menu to act the way the current Advanced Search page bar does and display all the saved search terms that the browser has stored as form data.

Now there is no longer a "hide" option available, and at the moment the only way to see all the past search keywords is to actually go to the Advanced Search page each time.

Here is an older thread with some images of how things used to work:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Share-eBay-Technical-Issues/How-to-hide-ebay-s-search-suggestions/m-p/...

At one point the "hide" option disappeared from most eBay pages, but could still be found on the community pages -- at least until the community pages were redesigned to no longer include an eBay search bar, just a community search.

@eburtonlab thank you so much! This really does help and I've submitted a ticket to the tech team. Hopefully we'll get some news as to whether this was a change that was made, or something is broken. I'll follow up with you and @tincan630 here when I have news to share.

Velvet,

velvet@ebay · ‎10-01-2021

@tincan630 and @eburtonlab I've heard back from our tech team and it appears this was a change made to the search and not a glitch. It's also not a feature they plan on bringing back. I'll provide you with the reason they gave me here:

"eBay carefully reviews all of our features in regards to usage, maintenance cost and future enhancements. There are many enhancement being planned for the eBay Search Autocomplete feature, including a recent change of the the entire backend for greater performance and flexibility.

This particular feature ran on an older technology stack, and had little to no usage from our customers. It has been retired as of September 2020 with no current plans for bringing it back."

I know this is not necessarily the news you wanted to receive but I'm happy there's an explanation as I know it's something you've been seeking info on for a while now.

Velvet,

eburtonlab · ‎10-01-2021

Thanks for the followup, velvet@ebay .

I understand what the tech team is saying, but what @tincan630 is asking for does not require a restoration of the old code, but merely an option to disable the default delivery of those eBay recommendations, so that the browser form data is accessible once again under the standard search bar, as it currently is on the Advanced Search page.

The previous "hide eBay suggestions" link may not have been used by many folks, but those that did make use of it relied on it heavily to be able to quickly and easily find past search keywords, judging by the comments on the community discussion boards when the feature stopped working previously.

My concern is that at some point the Advanced Search page will be similarly upgraded, and that all that form data will no longer be accessible to users at all, which would effectively wipe out all the saved search data that many of those users currently rely on.

velvet@ebay · ‎10-04-2021

@eburtonlab wrote:

Thanks for the followup, velvet@ebay .

I understand what the tech team is saying, but what @tincan630 is asking for does not require a restoration of the old code, but merely an option to disable the default delivery of those eBay recommendations, so that the browser form data is accessible once again under the standard search bar, as it currently is on the Advanced Search page.

The previous "hide eBay suggestions" link may not have been used by many folks, but those that did make use of it relied on it heavily to be able to quickly and easily find past search keywords, judging by the comments on the community discussion boards when the feature stopped working previously.

My concern is that at some point the Advanced Search page will be similarly upgraded, and that all that form data will no longer be accessible to users at all, which would effectively wipe out all the saved search data that many of those users currently rely on.

I'll pass your concerns on about the Advanced Search page facing a similar upgrade @eburtonlab, but for now, I only have the information they provided me regarding the standard search and this doesn't appear to be a feature they plan to bring back.

Velvet,

eburtonlab · ‎10-04-2021

Thanks, velvet. I understand it is not your call to make, and I appreciate both the update and your passing along my concerns to the appropriate folks.

tincan630 · ‎10-06-2021

Needless to say this is a big disappointment as the current situation is "about as handy as a pocket in your underwear". I'm assuming some tech genius made the discussion because he doesn't think it's necessary but for the plain old folks like me it was what made searching on ebay fast and efficient. The current situation is a complete turn off and the result at least for me is less time looking and less money spent. The less money spend that stays in my pocket may be a plus for me but for your sellers who are complaining about low sales this could be part of the reason. Since you apparently have no plans to revive it, I get the feeling that you really could care less about me , my opinion or making ebay being user friendly. I can't say ebay is a complete waste of time but it's definitely become a "time waster" as the result of the changes to the search bar!

shozu · ‎11-30-2021

I wish eBay would bring back the "hide" option. I can't stand the drop down menu, which is full of irrelevant suggestions. It ought to be simple and easy for eBay to reenable it, but I think eBay wants users to click on one of their (irrelevant) search suggestions and browse their site aimlessly.

Any other solutions (e.g., Chrome/Firefox add-ons) would be great - anything to get rid of the drop down menu.