Ebay adds second term to my searches

[steve_stuff]

And we have photos to prove it.

Typed in 'bug band deet free insect repellent wrist bands' and search under all categories.

What I get is shown below

 

I typed in 'bug band' [see top finger]

ebay adds and searches for 'big band' [see thumb]

and 'shows' me 'both' [pointer] - really only the wrist bands as there is no big band deet ... on ebay.

AND if I don't click on the 'see only bug band' link [see pointer] it will show me only 'big band deet' under completed or sold.

So ebay adds something  that's completely wrong and then will only show me the wrong stuff unless I notice and hit that link.

No wonder I'm not finding sold copies of 'beatles slight album' or 'HP 63 black wink cartridges'

Same holds true for 'hand made leather journal tiny'

ebay adds 'miny'

Can't be just us this is happening to.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Looks to me like you are looking for a brand "BugBand", but you typed it as two words, "Bug Band" Try searching as: "BugBand deet-free insect repellent wrist bands" instead.

(I agree, Big Band and Bug Band should not both be appearing, especially in the context of the rest of the words, but many search engines do this sort of thing.)

And yes, the lesson here is be sure to read what ebay shows you, especially any notes right below your search query....and then revise your query as appropriate. As I say, I find this sort of thing on other search engines too.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

And good luck finding them as I had some 'all natural ingredients' bands pulled for not having some kind of insecticide number on them. That would be because there is none?

[syncopatorsyncopator]

The search engine is "fuzzy," allowing for typos. In your "bug band" example, just add "-big" (without quotes) in your search string, and you'll be good to go.

[steve_stuff]

OP

We did it as one word first, hence no photos - but got the same reasons as new search below.

and we don't know how long ebay has been messing up the search this way - with the other item completed 'miny' shows nothing

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@steve_stuff  It has been this way for a long time, same as many other search engines. 

[steve_stuff]

OP

Not fuzzy but dizzy - know about the -word bit but still shouldn't have to do that. It took us long enough to figure out the 'note book' was a journal, don't need ebay changing tiny to miny.

Don't know when they added the 'showing both' bit but we were never 'told'

[huntfishdie45]

What are you waiting for? Start selling Big Band Miny's!

[eburtonlab]

If a search that has worked well previously suddenly starts behaving badly, often the problem has something to do with a faulty keyword substitution or an inappropriate automatic category navigation issue.

You can bypass many of these sorts of search issues by putting one of your keywords in quotes. This forces eBay to bypass the "smart" features and to search for the literal keywords without any substitution or category switching. You may have to manually specify your category once again.

Using a desktop browser, find the "Feedback" icon that appears in the lower right corner of the search results page to let eBay page developers know about your search issues.

[deltilogical]

You may find the Quote feature doesn't work the way you expect now.   

The Search seems to be purposely programmed to return what it thinks you want, not what you want.   It forces multiple clicks from the user where one would do, which can be monetized for advertising revenue.   

[eburtonlab]

You may find the Quote feature doesn't work the way you expect now.

Do you have a particular example in mind, or is that just a general warning?

It is certainly possible that eBay has changed things or that eBay is testing a new feature with some accounts. Or two different features may interact in an unexpected way.

But using quotes, exclusions or Boolean "OR" searches all seem to still bypass the "smart" search features that cause keyword substitution or automatic category navigation for me.

Compare the following searches.

A search for the keyword boockase -- note the substitution:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=boockase&_sacat=0

Boockase in quotes -- no substitution:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%22boockase%22&_sacat=0

Boockase with an exclusion -- no substitution:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=boockase+-octopus&_sacat=0

Boockase OR zzzzy -- no substitution:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=%28boockase%2Czzzzy%29&_sacat=0