Do we need a white background for Google? No.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Apparently Google no longer insists on white backgrounds for ebay submissions. I think that's been the case for a while now, but ebay has (more or less) officially stated that the Google policy does not require white backgrounds anymore. 

From today's ebay for business podcast:  "I know you want to use your fancy backgrounds and the woodgrain backdrop and we used to say Google won't accept this and they've changed their ways so you know, they now accept these backgrounds. You can use 'em if you want..." 

Also, for what its worth, a recent ecommerce survey (not mentioned in the podcast) concluded that men prefer a plain background when online shopping, and women prefer a staged photo. My own view is : plain is good for some things, and staged is good for others (especially if you have a little bit of talent when it comes to taking staged photos). And , to state the obvious, merely cluttered backgrounds are not the same thing as staged backgrounds LOL

[stuff4divas]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques   I think that plain white background is usually the best, but yes, some items look good in a 'staged' background as long as buyers don't get confused on what is actually for sale in that listing.

Adding maybe a stuffed animal or porcelain statue for emphasis on the listed product can easily create an item not as described case.

[garusingpoornimamihi_0]

As per my experience Most of my listing viewers are from outside ebay and those are white background listings. I guess that there are something innit. I am trying to keep all of em to keep in white background.

[Anonymous]

If you need to rely on Google to sell your items on eBay then why are using eBay in the first place? You can do that with your own site.

Back on day, circa 2000 or 2001, why also selling on eBay, I set up a site on GeoCities. It was a simple list of parts for item within a particular hobby. Payments were by mail. I sold out my collection. It was part of "webring" of interconnected sites in the same hobby so it only took a month or less to be on the first page of Yahoo searches if using the singular version of a key word used in the hobby and on the second page using the plural version. Things are so much easier these days.

Using those so called automated background removal tools leaves a jagged pixelated edge around objects when viewing the pictures at larger sizes. This is even worse for photos taken with a phone as they are less detailed that a dedicated crop frame or full frame camera to begin with.

How many people are going to use their items in a sterile white environment such as a clean room in a computer chip factory? Looks unnatural. Is a waste time as all the buyer cares about is that the item matches the photos and they get their item safely.

I am also very surprised at eBay saying to use a white background as this is clearly racist and goes against their woke agenda.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@stuff4divas  Well, a staged background doesn't necessarily mean adding "props" of course. An antique stoneware jug might look good if it is sitting on an old wooden bench in front of a brick wall...probably no confusion about what is being sold. 

As for me personally, I already have a 30 day free return policy, so if a buyer claims he thought my item came with other items shown in the photo (and clearly described as not being included in the sale), well, I'm going to be taking the return anyway, and paying the return shipping, even if he just says "I'd like to return this". In the past, I've sold a number of items with props in the photos, and I've never had a buyer ask for a return because the props didn't come with it. Could it happen? Sure. But it's just not something I'd personally spend a lot of item worrying about. 

If most sellers continue to use all white, it's fine by me. For me, I'll probably experiment a little. I remember when a plain white background helped a listing stand out, among all the listings with cluttered backgrounds. Now, at least for some things, a well-staged item might stand out among all the white backgrounds. But I'm really set up to do white or black backgrounds, and those will probably continue to make up the bulk of my listings, just because it will be easier.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

Thanks for posting that update.  I never changed to white & it never hindered my items from appearing on Google shopping results.  That said, I do use a plain background that is close to white, but lately have started doing more color, so I appreciate knowing this. 

[chapeau-noir]

I am also very surprised at eBay saying to use a white background as this is clearly racist and goes against their woke agenda.

ROFL!  Props for best a.m. sarcasm! 😁

General post:  I use a white background because if I didn't the world would be treated to my 70s carpet, trailing photo lights wires and that bunch of junk in the corner.  Not to mention the lighting challenges.

AFAIK, Google has never actually mandated a white background, it has been simply one of many metrics.  It's background clutter that generally creates too much 'noise' for effective image searching, and a properly staged background (not many do it well - it does take talent and experience) won't be cluttered or noisy.

[darma-2199]

White background, high contrast or sepia make it hard to look at edges and detail of an item. A photo with natural shadow and background makes it easier to see details. I thought this was a deceptive practice, but read here it was a Google requirement?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

ebay was pushing it hard for a while because Google was apparently rejecting at least some of their Google Shopping submissions if they lacked a white background. It wasn't a requirement to be shown in regular Google Search, but did seem to impact submissions to Google Shopping. Google no longer rejects non-white.

The white background was pretty much standard practice for many companies selling new products, such as electronics, and I personally think ebay was also pushing it because the former CEO was pushing his "Catalog of everything" and wanted uniform looking photos. Also, I think ebay's early photo recognition software had a lot of trouble with backgrounds, so they were pushing for white.

While many sellers still use white and some still (incorrectly) think it is some sort of requirement, ebay's advice today is generally use an uncluttered background, especially for the gallery photo, but so called "staging" can be effective (and is not against the rules) . Personally, I've always thought the white background idea was foolish....good for some types of merchandise, yes, absolutely, but not best for other types. 

My own recommendation: do what works for you.

[trainup027]

I haven't been doing a white background, I've been using different sorts of backgrounds whenever possible (both wood grain and white if I can) because things look different against different backgrounds.  I'm not sure if it's just my camera or what.  And some items only look right in sunlight.