Does number of views influence best match algorithm?

[mozartbach1971]

I read somewhere on the internet that the number of views will influence the best match algorithm.  Does anyone know if this is true?  I'd like to know if it specifically pertains to auctions as I only list in this format.

[mam98031]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

@mam98031  In one of the posts, you mentioned, sorry I don't have time to find it right now, but you said that the Sort Order on Search is sticky.  I have NEVER had it be sticky.  Not when it was first introduced & not 30 seconds ago, when I tested it to see if something changed.  Is there perhaps a setting or something that I'm not aware of?   How are you getting yours to be sticky?  

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No.  You may need to report it.  Mine has been sticky for a very long time.  I remember a couple years ago or so that all of a sudden it wasn't sticky but a couple weeks later it was back to normal.  At least normal for me.

[reallynicestamps]

specifically pertains to auctions as I only list in this format.

Buyers don't like auctions and many of the Views you get will be useless because the buyer doesn't want to wait around for seven days to learn they have lost.

That's why "Newly Listed" and "About to Close" are popular Searches. 

Viewers view.

Watchers watch.

Buyers buy. 

[gurlcat]

eBay might be motivated to show buyers competitively priced can openers or DVD's, but in categories like collectibles and popular fashion (which the listing I mentioned in message 24 is kind of a combination of both those things), buyers with money to spend don't want cheap; they want 'wow.'   That brooch is definitely on the higher end of prices, but still remains on page 1 in Best Match.  There is no way that could be true without accounting for how much attention it is getting from buyers.    

I don't understand why anybody here doubts that views are important (if not paramount) in BM placement.   Other than actually being a good "match" of the search term, what else would a smart business want to make most visible beside what people obviously want to look at?  I do think @chapeau-noir  is correct about a fall-off over time, and that would make sense if the item only got lots of views at first, but then the frequency tapered off, which would most likely indicate the item being a bit overpriced, or maybe some other deal-breaker that buyers don't see until they view the whole listing. 

You know what wouldn't surprise me?  If repeat buyer views are part of the algorithm.   Listings that people can't help but come back to and look at again - that not only tells eBay people are really thinking about pulling the trigger and buying; it's also a listing bringing buyers back to the platform, period.  Even a buyer who knows they're only gawking with no intent to buy, may come to gawk again, and then buy a can opener or DVD.  

Picture a downtown or mall store of any kind of merchandise.  What goes in the display window, practical or sexy, affordable or enviable, trustworthy or legendary?  

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

@mam98031  In one of the posts, you mentioned, sorry I don't have time to find it right now, but you said that the Sort Order on Search is sticky.  I have NEVER had it be sticky.  Not when it was first introduced & not 30 seconds ago, when I tested it to see if something changed.  Is there perhaps a setting or something that I'm not aware of?   How are you getting yours to be sticky?  

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No.  You may need to report it.  Mine has been sticky for a very long time.  I remember a couple years ago or so that all of a sudden it wasn't sticky but a couple weeks later it was back to normal.  At least normal for me.

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@mam98031  That's wild, from day 1 it has never been sticky for me & it still isn't & I've heard the same from other users.  I wasn't aware that it was actually sticky for anyone, so I'm not sure there's anything to report.   Just to be clear, you're saying you do a search, change the sort order, then get out of eBay, go back in & you still have the same sort order?  Mine isn't even sticky if I change SCREENS & go back & never has been.   It ALWAYS defaults to Best Match, even if I just go to another screen & come back & do the same sort.  You can change screens or get out & go back & it retains your sort order preference?  Can you double check? This would blow me away if it's true! 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@gurlcat wrote:

I don't understand why anybody here doubts that views are important (if not paramount) in BM placement.   Other than actually being a good "match" of the search term, what else would a smart business want to make most visible beside what people obviously want to look at? 

Exactly, how do people think Relevancy is determined?  This isn't the ONLY way, but I'd bet big money it's one of the ways. 

You know what wouldn't surprise me?  If repeat buyer views are part of the algorithm.   Listings that people can't help but come back to and look at again - that not only tells eBay people are really thinking about pulling the trigger and buying; it's also a listing bringing buyers back to the platform, period.  

We know this is the case.  Not necessarily with the search algorithm, but we know it's tracked b/c repeat viewings is one of the things that puts an item on our Eligible to Send Offers (SIO) list.  I'm pretty sure this was published at one time, there was a list of the things that make an item eligible for SIO's. 

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[luckythewinner]

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@mozartbach1971 wrote:

I read somewhere on the internet that the number of views will influence the best match algorithm.  Does anyone know if this is true?  I'd like to know if it specifically pertains to auctions as I only list in this format.

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Best Match is a weighted scoring system that considers dozens if not hundreds of factors. 

Some of those factors have been reported by eBay over the years ... such as price; return policy; free shipping; time remaining; seller rating; distance from buyer to seller; item specifics; etc. 

I have to imagine that if number of views is considered in the algorithm, it would not have very much impact. 

[mam98031]

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@simply-the-best-for-you wrote:

@mam98031  In one of the posts, you mentioned, sorry I don't have time to find it right now, but you said that the Sort Order on Search is sticky.  I have NEVER had it be sticky.  Not when it was first introduced & not 30 seconds ago, when I tested it to see if something changed.  Is there perhaps a setting or something that I'm not aware of?   How are you getting yours to be sticky?  

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No.  You may need to report it.  Mine has been sticky for a very long time.  I remember a couple years ago or so that all of a sudden it wasn't sticky but a couple weeks later it was back to normal.  At least normal for me.

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@mam98031  That's wild, from day 1 it has never been sticky for me & it still isn't & I've heard the same from other users.  I wasn't aware that it was actually sticky for anyone, so I'm not sure there's anything to report.   Just to be clear, you're saying you do a search, change the sort order, then get out of eBay, go back in & you still have the same sort order?  Mine isn't even sticky if I change SCREENS & go back & never has been.   It ALWAYS defaults to Best Match, even if I just go to another screen & come back & do the same sort.  You can change screens or get out & go back & it retains your sort order preference?  Can you double check? This would blow me away if it's true! 

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Mine is sticky.  Whatever I select my search to sort by, will be the same the next time I go in and search for something unless I change it.  

[chapeau-noir]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@mozartbach1971 wrote:

I read somewhere on the internet that the number of views will influence the best match algorithm.  Does anyone know if this is true?  I'd like to know if it specifically pertains to auctions as I only list in this format.

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Best Match is a weighted scoring system that considers dozens if not hundreds of factors. 

Some of those factors have been reported by eBay over the years ... such as price; return policy; free shipping; time remaining; seller rating; distance from buyer to seller; item specifics; etc. 

I have to imagine that if number of views is considered in the algorithm, it would not have very much impact. 

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I doubt these are all weighted the same, though. It doesn't matter how much free shipping and item specifics occur if views are consistent with lack of interest upon viewing - that will drag down the entire listing. It's why having a desirable item trumps pretty much everything else. 

[mozartbach1971]

Our Best Match algorithm—the formula eBay uses to sort listings—considers a number of different factors. These include:

• How closely the listing matches the buyer’s search terms
• How popular the item is
• The price of the item
• The quality of your listing (description, photos, and so on)
• How complete the listing is
• The listing terms of service, such as your return policy and handling time
• Your track record as a seller

How Ebay measures "How Popular the item is" is unknown but the number of views may be an input to that factor.

In regards to "Your track record as a seller"     Does this include the dollar amount of your sales?  In other words if you had eight hundred dollars in sales the past week, would you get better search results opposed to if you had only a hundred dollars in sales?

[luckythewinner]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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I doubt these are all weighted the same, though. 

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In my post, I said it was a weighted scoring system. 

If they are all weighted the same, it would not be weighted scoring system ...  🤔

[gurlcat]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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I have to imagine that if number of views is considered in the algorithm, it would not have very much impact. 

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I have yet to see anyone say why they don't think eBay would prioritize showing high-view listings (and again, I don't mean high views that accumulated over a long time, but quickly, showing lots of immediate interest from buyers).  

So as to take my jewelry interest bias out of the picture, let's say I collect "Zippo lighters" and use that as my search term, sorted by Best Match, without doing any left-screen refinements for any of the criteria you mentioned, because supposedly eBay will sort results assuming that I find those factors important. 

If that were true, then why would the mere 60 results on Page 1 (out of 85,000 Zippo lighter listings) include ones like these?  -Both are several hundred miles from me, neither accept returns, neither have free shipping (in fact both have high shipping, one atrociously so), neither have perfect feedback (and one is pretty atrocious), neither have any item specifics besides category and condition, and both are far from the lowest prices.  

Sure maybe eBay could have dozens or hundreds of criteria in the algorithm, and we could speculate on what they might be ... but it would be absurd to ignore the thing they went so far as to reveal in the thumbnail, bolded: the number of watchers, which ties to number of views. 

These otherwise crappy listings are on Page 1 because they're HOT, and eBay will keep prioritizing them until either someone buys them or the attention fades.  

[luckythewinner]

You know what wouldn't surprise me?  If repeat buyer views are part of the algorithm.   Listings that people can't help but come back to and look at again

It would surprise me if eBay prioritized repeat views by the same account. IMHO that would lend itself to manipulation by unscrupulous sellers. 

I  have yet to see anyone say why they don't think eBay would prioritize showing high-view listings (and again, I don't mean high views that accumulated over a long time, but quickly, showing lots of immediate interest from buyers). 

If you recall, the OP was asking about auctions, not fixed price listings. In the case of auctions, I would think that the number of bids would be a far more effective way to judge interest rather than the number of views. I would also think the number of watchers would be a better way to judge interest instead of the number of views, too. 

[gurlcat]

Fair points!   And I am usually one to be a stickler about answering what an OP actually asked, not something else, so shame on me, LOL.  (Actually I think I either didn't fully read the post or read it while distracted, which is just as bad as mindfully sidelining).  

And I bet you're right that watchers (and probably repeat same-account views) are weighted more heavily than single views, because so many times a listing turns out to be way less appealing than its' search thumbnail (the tiny size of the thumbnail photo alone can be deceiving, not to mention a load of other deal-breakers a buyer might find in the listing).  But watchers and repeat-viewers signal real interest. 

-I would think those might even outweigh the relevancy of bids on auctions, because so many buyers don't want to bid until the last day or even the final seconds, so they put it on Watch until then, maybe checking now and then to see how high the bids are going.   

[chapeau-noir]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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I doubt these are all weighted the same, though. 

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In my post, I said it was a weighted scoring system. 

If they are all weighted the same, it would not be weighted scoring system ...  🤔

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Please re-read your post - it implies that because there are so many different procedures in an algorithm, you doubt if 'views' mean much. I was trying to clarify that I think they do.