Being accused of keyword spamming for using "not"

[missmelindalou]

We listed an item "Pair 2 Bose Double Cube Speakers Black Work Great Cosmetics Not Great" and our selling privledges are temporary restricted for keyword spamming because "not great" violates ebay policy of keyword spamming because "not great" is somehow a "brand name, celebrity name, specific product or much searched word".  Additionally this is apparently our 3rd or 4th offense, but all of the offenses are relisting this one item.  So we are getting close to getting kicked off ebay because we are keyword spamming when we have never keyword spammed.

We have spent hours and have got no where.  Both myself and my girlfriend have tried to explain that although using "not" plus some other word might be a typical way of keyword spamming, "great" is not a celebrity namebrand name, product name or typical keyword search.  Even though "cosmetics" was not part of the complaint in our email from ebay, we tried to explain that the word cosmetics has multiple meanings in english which seemed to be confusing to one operator.  The worst was one ebay rep who seemed to get more and more annoyed about our refusal to stop keyword spamming and all explanations were met with some sort of "if you don't stop keyword spamming you will be kicked off ebay" with the operator never acknowledging that there might be some mistake after we had explained the error many times.

I sort of feel like this comes into the general category of racism, where non-native speakers blame and accuse and punish and blame and accuse more because they cannot accept that their understanding of English misses certain nuances.  Sort of as though someone from the US were to accuse and blame and punish a minority or a foreigner because the majority US person did not understand them and could not accept that there might be a different point of view.

We are really concerned that we might be kicked off ebay for good

[klassic*kids]

Maybe I am missing something here but why don't you just remove the term "not great" from your listing?  Is that term imperative for a sale?

[golfingaddict]

I agree with ebay, you are keyword spamming.

You do not need about half the words in the title and they are directing the wrong keyword searches for your item.

You can put "used" in your title but you do not need to describe the actual condition there as that puts you into keyword spamming.

Stick with the name of the product.

In the condition box, describe the condition. 

[junquee101]

The word tripping the bots is "not". It is a common way to keyword spam, as in "not (fill in this blank with a non-related manufacturer)". The bots aren't human. They have no way to discern syntax. 

That's just the way it is on here. There is no racism involved in the decision. Don't use the word "not" and you will be fine. "Not" is just a waste of title space anyway. Nobody does a search with the word "not" in it.

Customer service reps cannot change bot programming, nor can they over-ride the bots. It doesn't matter what country they are in.

[retrose1]

It isn't a human that is pulling your listing, it is a bot programmed to pick up on words and sayings that are conflicting.  The word Not is one of them.

I recently was blocked from relisting a Vera Bradley purse in the New Hope pattern because I used the word New in the title but the item condition states Used.

ebay is a glitch filled world, a seller has to get used to it if they want to survive here.

[missmelindalou]

That's what I thought, that there were bots making an error for a resonable reason, but we were told by multiple ebay reps that the decision was made by humans and not bots were in play

[missmelindalou]

Again, that's what I thought.  I thought a bot was making a reasonable mistake based on common keyword spamming practices, but we were told repeatedly that it was a human who made the decision and not a bot.

[missmelindalou]

But how can it be a punishable offense to say something looks bad in the title?  Surely it must be obvious that we are not trying to keyword spam people who are searching for "Great" brand speakers over to Bose speakers.

[mistressmime]

Being stubborn isnt going to win the battle. Rework the title to something like Pair of Boese Double Cube Speakers Black Used See Full Description

[deep-garnet-red]

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@missmelindalou wrote:

That's what I thought, that there were bots making an error for a resonable reason, but we were told by multiple ebay reps that the decision was made by humans and not bots were in play

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I wouldn't believe them.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@missmelindalou wrote:

But how can it be a punishable offense to say something looks bad in the title?  Surely it must be obvious that we are not trying to keyword spam people who are searching for "Great" brand speakers over to Bose speakers.

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They often get Things wrong or lie.  So I doubt what they are saying here is true.   While you aren't using a brand name someone looking for speakers in great condition will pull up your listing thus saying not in front of can still be seen as keyword spamming.  Just put poor condition leave out the word not followed by a positive word 

[myangelandmyprincess]

Sorry somehow I quoted the wrong post    I was trying t quote the one where you said they claimed it wasn't a bot.  It probably was a bot despite what they say. 

[wpt05]

@klassic*kids 

Yes, this makes the most sense. 

Make note of this also so it is not repeated on other future items.  

[missmelindalou]

I know, but our account got temporarily suspended and we had no idea why and now we are really concerned that we will get permentantly banned for no reason.  I can't guess at what thing some non native English speaker is going to not understand the next time, and ebay reps have shown they won't do anything but blame and accuse. 

[dhbookds]

Using cosmetic in the title is going to bring up that item if people search for cosmetics........that's a pretty obvious violation.

fighting the "not" violation isn't going to work, even if you browbeat some CS into saying they will make a note or something in your file.  Many other ways to say it.........Minor Flaws/damage, etc.  Do it again and you will probably get suspended.........

And in my opinion..........that using  "racist" in your title is beyond the pale.