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. 

[slippinjimmy]

What is the exact search term you are using?

[eburtonlab]

Without seeing the actual items and searches, I can think of a couple of reasons why those items might appear in your search.

It is possible that those sellers are including your search terms in the item-specifics of those listings, such as under "compatible part number" or some other bogus category -- or, if you are searching title and description, they might have included your search terms hidden in the listing, such as using white font on a white background. This is a form of search manipulation and a policy violation, but I do not know how likely it is that eBay will take action if it is reported.

Another possibility is that if many users are searching using the same brand keywords as you are, but eventually wind up buying the no-name brand instead, after a while eBay's "smart" search may decide that the two keywords are equivalent, so that a search for one returns the other. Or the search may simply be failing in some other way.

One thing to try is to put one of your search keywords in quotes, or else add an exclusion term preceded by a minus sign to your search. Either of those should prevent keyword substitutions, ensuring that all results match your terms exactly. If after that the no-name results no longer appear, that would indicate that keyword substitution was the problem. If the no-name results still appear, then your keywords are likely hidden somewhere in the listing.

You may also be able to avoid those no-name listings by using brand filters on the left side of the search results page, assuming you have narrowed the category in such a way that those filters become available.

[fashunu4eeuh]

There is speculation that eBay gives precedence to certain sellers, and that it is eBay itself manipulating the Search system, as opposed to sellers doing it.

[dazzlecity]

huge problem - I see it all the time - big turn off when trying to buy something - chinese are the biggest abusers - I generally give up

[1tuna]

.................general reply..................

I do not know much about this at all.I do know that the rules say you are supposed to follow guidelines,like no invisible ink or colors you cant see with certain keywords.

I woud think its every man for himself with this policy.I wish I knew how to manipulare keywords and so forth but I am a lowfi when it comes to tech.If the Chinese are being tricky and crafty but legal then what is the problem.I sort of thought that ebay filters out all the search and browser manipulation stuff

vintaevixen ftl™

[pink.fish.rule]

There is something really (I mean really) weird going on with ebay search lately.

Even an 'internal' search of your own active listings using a particular keyword will bring up a listing which has ZERO to do with the keyword. I've even seen it do this with a category search on actives. All of a sudden you'll see one listing which isn't even IN that category appear in the results.

I've been into the listing - revised everything and it STILL does it.

[gwzcomps]

Been going on for years now and getting worse. They keep making the search engine use broader and broader strokes to give results. I frequently see results that don't match any of my supplied keywords in the title, item specifics, or the description even. Good luck getting them to do anything, they genuinely don't care. Been fighting that battle for 2-3 years now.

[abfabvintage]

@eburtonlab 

Hey eburt. I am not trolling you...but will say it again (and have told you before you are one of the most helpful, calm,  and professional responders on threads)...there is no buyer in this universe who will know how to search according to your "back door" way to search unless it gets shared with the buyer universe. Again, am not being snarky. Maybe long time buyers have seen your repeated advice and it works, but for new buyers (and sellers) no one has a clue at the onset on how to find items they are interested in. 

And as I am reading your post, if a lot of buyers just give up and buy a non-Brand light bulb enough times, then the Bots/Algos just show those that are not branded...correct me if I am wrong. Please keep up your good work...truly. 

[eburtonlab]

@gwzcomps 

I frequently see results that don't match any of my supplied keywords in the title, item specifics, or the description even.

Keyword substitution (and also Implicit category navigation) can be bypassed in your search by using advanced search operators such as quotes or exclusions.

At one point over this past summer, when the keyword substitution feature was broken in many categories, the only way to successfully search for some items was to use quotes or exclusions to avoid inappropriate matches flooding the results. The only reason it was not more widely noticed was that many users are still utilizing the default "best match" sort, and the mismatches were ranked somewhat lower than actual matching results in that particular sort.

[zamo-zuan]

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@quadcitypickers wrote:

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. 

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I've found that the #1 driver of search placement seem to be "traffic" right now. If you link an item to some friends you can actually see the improvement in search placement just from a short burst of views.

This is one reason why China sellers seem to have good placement. Being that they seem to be cheaper, they get more traffic. 

The problem that I see here is that the old ways that eBay managed quality control are no longer being considered. So since the focus is on traffic, without the quality control that used to limit non-TRS sellers with poor feedback... it gives them an easy way to shoot up to the top of search. 

[gwzcomps]

Advanced filtering only works to a certain degree now though. Plus depending on what you have to filter out you may lose other relevant results.

[eburtonlab]

@abfabvintage 

Thanks, abfabvintage. I know full well that I am on a fool's errand trying to spread the word one post at a time, but if I can help one or two folks it is better than nothing. Better to light a candle, and all that. If you have any suggestions to reach a wider receptive audience, let me know.

The vast majority of eBay users never venture onto the community boards at all.

if a lot of buyers just give up and buy a non-Brand light bulb enough times, then the Bots/Algos just show those that are not branded

That is one possibility -- I do not know for certain that is what is happening in this particular case. But I suspect that there is a lot of algorithmic machine learning behind a many of the current and past search issues.

[abfabvintage]

@eburtonlab 

Thanks, eburton. I don't think you are on a fool's journey. I have always appreciated your thoughtful, knowledgeable posts. Keep up the good work...in these ever changing ebay times. 

[eburtonlab]

@gwzcomps 

Advanced filtering only works to a certain degree now though. Plus depending on what you have to filter out you may lose other relevant results.

In the context of searching for a particular brand and finding many no-name items in the search results, using a brand filter can bypass the generics (unless they are being falsely advertised as a particular brand). Even if you are not looking for a particular brand, selecting most every brand except the "not specified" option should eliminate the generic listings.

In general, using filters (along with appropriate keywords and categories) can cut through a lot of items that are listed in the wrong category. For instance, if you are searching for a vehicle and finding lots of parts wrongly listed in the vehicle category, try using some item-specific filters such as "transmission type". Chances are good that if you pick either "automatic" or "manual" (or both) you will cut out many of the mis-categorized listings entirely, without losing any actual vehicles.