How are sellers manipulating the search algorithm?

[quadcitypickers]

I noticed a lot of sellers from China are somehow getting their items to show up in totally bogus searches.

These are not promoted listings or anything of that nature.

For example..if I search for a particular BRAND of light bulb, say GE, I will see a ton of no-name light bulbs.

They don't have GE in the title, description, brand descriptor, anywhere!

It used to be..if you searched for X, and the item didn't have X in the title, it would NOT show up..period.

It is really irritating as a buyer how broken the search is getting to be, especially when looking for something specific. 

[the_fancy_fox]

Then when selecting US only, I get about 80% correct / 20% other brands along with some automotive non GE bulbs.

[eburtonlab]

@the_fancy_fox 

I tried a similar search and noticed that many of the low end no-name bulbs have the letters GE in the manufacturer's part number -- that likely does not refer to General Electric, but rather "Generic". So a search using the term "GE" will match a lot of non-General Electric results unless the category is narrowed and the brand filter is specifically used.

[eburtonlab]

A "Best Match" sort will put the actual General Electric results at the top, while a "Lowest First" sort will tend to put the generics first, for obvious reasons.

Here is a look at some of the brands that show up with a search for GE light bulb in the Light Bulb category:

I would have used the results of the "See all" link, but they did not all fit on one screen. In addition to those brands (including the 326 "unbranded"), there are over 8000 "not specified" results.

[rfmtm]

Basically it is ebay that is doing the search manipulation to to point that search is unfair to some sellers and frustrating to buyers.  Most is intentional and much they are upfront about in general.  Other manipulation is hidden and some not really manipulation, but just the result of inherent problems.  The result still is some sellers are on top, while other listings are barely visible if not missing altogether. 

Yes, sellers do find ways to manipulate search as well, but it is hard to keep up with the changes ebay keeps making to do so.  However, sellers do take advantage of certain inherent problems and loopholes, especially with items linked to the ebay catalog.  When reported some do get fixed, but only after many months.

Of course some sellers, which often appear to be larger or international sellers, blatantly abuse the listing rules and even when reported are often not sanctioned.

Here is a short article and discussion of what search has become.

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/letters/blog.pl?/pl/2019/1/1546372508.html