Search Function Limiting Results

[arlingtoncoins2014]

I've mostly noticed this on the active listings page but it's likely an overall issue with the search engine, but it looks like when putting in a search term it will only pull exact results, not all results containing the letter combination.

An example of this, if you are searching 'balboa' (a type of currency), you won't get results where 'balboas' is in the title instead. Before, the search engine would pull up either option without issue so it seems odd to change it when it makes the search function more difficult to pull all relevant results.

[eburtonlab]

How are you searching?

When I search balboa and limit the results to the Panama coin category, I see many results containing balboas, including some that do not contain balboa in the title or item-specifics.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/45147/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=balboa&_sop=10

There are ways to get exact matches: for instance, by putting that search keyword in quotes or by using an exclusion term when searching.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%22balboa%22&_sacat=45147&_odkw=balboa&_osacat=45147&...

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=balboa+-octopus&_sacat=45147&_odkw=%22balboa%22&_osac...

That will bypass any keyword substitution and force eBay to provide exact matches to all of your keywords.

If you want to use an exclusion but still search for alternative keywords, you can try this:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%28balboa%2Cbalboas%29+-octopus&_sacat=45147&_odkw=ba...

[arlingtoncoins2014]

This is specifically in the seller side of the site on the active listing page, it currently doesn't show any listings outside of the exact search terms you place. This issue isn't as apparent the buyer side of the site since the search default splits your searches into directly relevant listings and then beyond that will try to find similar listings.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

There are many complaints about the search results.

Some are contradictory to your results - that irrelevant results are displayed instead of exact matches,

I suspect that your complaints and many other complaints are due to a search algorithm which does not meet your specific expectations because your expectations are being affected by other factors in the search.

My biggest complaint is the search appears to ignore numbers such as dates when I search. I get many improper results before the desired results are displayed.

Having had a work history which included developing software, I suspect that the algorithm shows different results for different users based, in part, on our previous searches.

These algorithms have become so complex that I wonder how they ever find any results within a reasonable amount of elapsed time.