Find Similar items Now On Listing Photos

[mcdougle4248]

I just noticed that there is now a "Find similar items" button on listing photos.  I checked about six of the listings that came up after clicking on the button, and none of the 30 or so listings were from the same seller as the original listing. 

IMHO, this is going too far.

[ms.rodriguez*]

Ebay is now showing competitor's listings in ads.  Those folks paid to promote those items.  If you want to find other items from that seller, click SELLERS OTHER ITEMS.   Personally, I try to avoid buying any item that is promoted like this. I feel like if Ebay is shoving down my throat. I want to buy an item that I searched for.

[coolections]

Not sure if you are new to Ebay but similar items have been showing on listings for quite same time now. Ebay looks at it like an ad in the newspaper where they show everyone who pays for an ad. It is up to the buyer to choose which one they prefer. It is up to the seller to price competitively to get that buyer.

[toomuchstuffagain35]

This is different.

It's a button to see similar in the seller's listing photos.

[mcdougle4248]

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@ms.rodriguez* wrote:

Ebay is now showing competitor's listings in ads.  Those folks paid to promote those items.  If you want to find other items from that seller, click SELLERS OTHER ITEMS.   Personally, I try to avoid buying any item that is promoted like this. I feel like if Ebay is shoving down my throat. I want to buy an item that I searched for.

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I am not so sure the listings that came up after clicking the Find similar items button are Sponsored listings.  I do not see the Sponsored label on any of the listings returned.

[mcdougle4248]

@coolections 

I am not new to eBay.  I have been a buyer and seller since 2005. 

I am aware that other Seller's Sponsored listings have been showing on listings for several years.  What is new to me is seeing a button on the listing photo to take the buyer off the original listing page.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I suspect this is a test, but may also be a new feature. ebay has been working on the view item page, and this may be part of that testing. Also, ebay has been touting the improved ability of its photo search ability, and this would tie in with that. I agree, at least at present, these appear to be organic listings.

ebay has previously said that the large majority of PLS sales are made on the Listing pages, not from the search results page. I'd guess that ebay believes this will result in more sales and more satisfied buyers. 

From a seller perspective:

If buyer is viewing MY item, and this change results in buyer choosing to buy someone else's item from the "similar" results: This is BAD. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!

If buyer is viewing someone else's item, and this change results in the buyer buying MY item from the "similar" results: This is GOOD. I love it, I love it, I love it!

[valueaddedresource]

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@mcdougle4248 wrote:

I just noticed that there is now a "Find similar items" button on listing photos.  I checked about six of the listings that came up after clicking on the button, and none of the 30 or so listings were from the same seller as the original listing. 

IMHO, this is going too far.

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@mcdougle4248  I'm also seeing this on listings in both FireFox and Chrome (also in both the "old" view item page and whatever version of the test of the "new" view item page I can currently see on one account).

Interesting note - none of the results I've been shown so far have an explicit "sponsored" tag on them. Presumably that means at least at this time these are all organic results, not Promoted Listings.

Edit to add - I'm a slow typer and you all have already commented on the lack of sponsored tag so...never mind on that. 😂

[simba6]

They are burning the candle at both ends.

[valueaddedresource]

Warning, there are a lot of potentially boring technical details here, but I thought some might find this interesting -

https://tech.ebayinc.com/engineering/how-ebays-new-search-feature-was-inspired-by-window-shopping/

I had read about this back in March but honestly from the description in the article and the images shown, I thought it was going to be deployed within the regular search flow, not on the view item page. Maybe I misunderstood the original post or maybe they've expanded on it - I'm not sure.

I would have much less of a problem with it if this was being done within the search like I originally thought it would be - see a result in the list and have the option to tap a button at that point to refine the search based on visually similar items.

But once a buyer has clicked through on to a listing page, redirecting them to competitors with this "view similar" button overlaid on the seller provided images... I have to agree with @mcdougle4248 , that's a step too far.

[mcdougle4248]

@valueaddedresource 

Thank you for sharing.  Very interesting. 

From the article, I agree with your thoughts that this would "be deployed within the regular search flow, not on the view item page".  

[backpacktreasures]

This is not ok. Is there any single inch of our listing that actually keeps the buyer on our listing instead of clicking AWAY from our listing?

[selsa84]

And it's getting windy

[valueaddedresource]

@mcdougle4248 it just disappeared for me on both browsers/both view item page versions....maybe they weren't ready to let this cat out of bag yet? 😂

[mcdougle4248]

@valueaddedresource 

It was gone from the pages I was looking at for a few minutes, then it came back for a few minutes and now is gone again.  The cat cannot decide if it wants to stay in or get out of the bag 🤣