Something's Wrong With The Search Engine

[Anonymous]

Not here to rant but I think something's wrong with the search engine. Did a search for cookbooks. Check the photo. That's not a cookbook. Has anyone else noticed search problems like this?

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

Sponsored listings do not need to match your search criteria to appear in a search, and if they do appear, such listings do not sort according to your sort criteria -- their positions in your search are determined by the terms of the sponsorship.

You can claim that is something wrong with eBay's search algorithm, but unless you can show that the seller did not choose for that listing to appear for that particular search, eBay may still consider that the search is working as intended; inserting sponsored listings at the top and bottom of the search is expected behavior -- though in most cases the connection between the search terms and the sponsored listing is more obvious.

Perhaps it represents a problem with the promoted listing algorithm, or perhaps the seller was not picky about which searches their sponsored item appears in.

https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/listing-and-marketing/promoted-listings.html

[Anonymous]

Exactly. So yep, something's wrong with the search engine.

[Anonymous]

You know, I probably will be restricted or throttled by posting my original post but I take pride in my eBay business, and only want to create more sales, not get less. I was all but done here for a time, then I get one of my best feedbacks the other day:

 "The No. 1 coolest seller on eBay, not hyping, for real. Deserves 100 stars. Very highly recommended. And thank you sir, much appreciated!"
   Of Course, not bragging and yes, I've ranted about no sales here before but to hear positive things like that tells me that I'm doing the right thing, representing this company in an honest and forthright manner. So I cling to a little hope and hope that things here get better for not just myself, but for everyone selling here.

[whosuiii]

I have been an eBay member for 25yrs. It seems the eBay search engine recently has been modified to assist their now poor servers.  I listed an item a week ago ( 133912539366 ) I originally listed it as "DJI Goggles RE Racing Edition". Now when searching for "DJI Goggles" my listing is not shown. I have discovered that the only way my listing is shown in search is if I search for the complete listing as

( DJI Goggles RE Racing Edition ). I have since changed my listing to ( DJI Goggles ) but it still does not show in the search results as DJI Goggles. I have never had this issue in the past, so obviously eBay has modified their search engine. Has any one else had this same issue? Any response would be greatly be appreciated since eBay help is almost worthless now a-days

[eburtonlab]

@whosuiii 

eBay will often steer a search into a particular category based on the keywords used in the search.

A search for dji goggles is steered into the following category:

Cameras & Photo > Camera Drones

Your item is listed in the following category:

Cameras & Photo > Camera, Drone & Photo Accessories > Camera Drone Accessories

If you want your item to appear when searching dji goggles, you need to list in the former category rather than the latter.

[whosuiii]

My issue was when I did a search I made sure it said all categories. Very strange because all categories search seems to be working normal now.  Maybe something I was doing wrong. 
Oh well. Go figure. Thanks for your response. 

[eburtonlab]

My issue was when I did a search I made sure it said all categories.

When the search results page loads, it may say "All categories" right up until the page finishes loading completely, at which point it may change to a specific category.

By default, a search for dgi goggles will be steered into the Camera Drones category. While it is certainly possible to change the category to All categories and search again, most users will not bother to do that, and will only see the results in the Camera Drone category.

[attic_toys79]

Hi this problem has been going on for several months.  I sent my comments to ebay about this problem when I got a buyer survey from them.....   It is happening in many categories.  The search engine is broke.  The search categories are junk.  I search many categories and themes and I always get a bunch of results that were not what I was looking for and results that have nothing to do with the search I put in.   There are items I use to find in the old search engine/setup that can not be found now in this newer "improved version?".  Selling categories are just as messed up. Once again ebay's improvements/updates has done just the opposite, made things worse.  Sometimes its best to leave things alone.   

SB