Just because a clever hack to get around the keyword spamming exists does not mean that buyers will be (a) recognize a hack is needed, (b) find it, and (c) learn how to use it.
Understood.
But the point is that there is more than one way to search for and find any item listed on eBay. Different buyers search in different ways and try different things -- including some ways that you as a seller may not have considered.
Just because the search that you would first think of using turns up poor results does not mean that all your buyers are necessarily encountering the same thing.
eBay seems to do very little to discourage keyword spamming or to respond to reports of sellers that use keyword spamming. Perhaps eBay is doing a great deal behind the scenes that I am unaware of, but there are enough examples of keyword spamming that are easy to find to make that seem most unlikely.
So what can be done about keyword spamming?
Buyers can try searching in different ways as discussed previously, and can choose not to do business with sellers that engage in that antisocial practice.
Sellers can take steps to make their listings as easy to find as possible by legitimate means, and can report competing sellers that violate eBay's "search and browse manipulation" policy.
Community members can share search tips and tricks that make keyword spamming less effective and easier to filter or avoid, and can encourage eBay to take additional actions to enforce the current rules.
Anything else?
