KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 12:59 AM
Does anybody have time to go through 3000 results when over 1/3 of them are irrelevant?
Do you want a door mat when you're searching for a toy train? Do you want a lamp when you're searching for dog food? Do you want a sex toy when you're searching for a toaster? Do you want an 8-oz bag of corn chips when you're searching for a queen-size mattress?
NO. Nobody does. "Keyword Spamming" is one of the selections when you click on "Report an Item." Why? Those listings with keyword spamming (i.e. LIES) stay up for their duration after being reported. My search results take up 10+ pages (200/page) and there are so many that shouldn't be there
And eBay will ask me "show all results?" if there are a lot of items that come up. Yes - if I search for something, that means I want to see if it's available. Why ask that when so many non-results show up because a seller puts unnecessary words in their listings?
Is there a better way than "Report an Item" to deal with this problem? It's not only not going away, it's getting worse!
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 01:19 AM
OMG! I have reported the same items to ebay in as many as 6 weeks in a row with "0", zero, nada results. The items I search most often are under the category Vintage & Antique Jewelry and it's amazing what junk can be found there. I'm sure there are other categories that are just as frustrating. And I think it's getting worse because those who want to get away with it know that they can.
It's my understanding that there are some very strict rules for live, in-person auctions as far as what the item is called -antique, etc. Apparently ebay is much more concerned about reducing ebay bucks, reducing top seller discounts and charging fees on sales tax (Sales tax that we never see?? How is that even legal??)
I wish I knew a more effective way to handle them, too.
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 01:51 AM
You must live a pretty good life if this is a concern of yours. 😉
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 03:42 AM
Perhaps it sort of falls under the idea of, 'People buying 'this' have also looked at .......... '. That way one can buy the chips to eat in bed, on the new mattress, while playing with the toaster and having the mat to wipe their feet on when they get up. I think it is called advertising. I think some people make a lot of money doing lots of advertising.
The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.
Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, many people would use them more often.
Respect, like money, is only of 'worth' when it is earned - with all due respect, it can not be ordained, legislated or coerced. Anonymous
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 07:15 AM - edited ‎12-30-2020 07:19 AM
I know, I see it frequently...
Often, one seller will have (for example) an automotive fuse or light bulb that will fit most any car listed...
Page after page all of the same, with these title variations:
Light bulb fuse fits Volkswagen Corrado, Jetta
Light bulb fuse fits Volvo S40, S50, S900...
And so on, covering just about every make and model, clobbering up the results page after page after page...
If they're really slick they'll even have multiple accounts all listing the same thing, how we know, shipping location all the same for the first clue in this game.
I stopped reporting eons ago.
Ebay won't do anything about it.
Here's another classic:
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 07:55 AM
eBay has a hard enough time taking down all the obviously fraudulent listings that are put up every day by scammers; I doubt that keyword spamming is a high priority target for removal.
You can certainly report listings that use keywords in an inappropriate manner if it violates policy, but eBay is unlikely to take action unless the violation is particularly blatant or unless eBay receives many independent complaints.
You may be better off altering the way you search to avoid such listings. If you are searching for toy trains, try limiting the category to Toys & Hobbies, or possibly Antiques or Collectibles. Changing the category may allow you to use category specific filters that apply to the item specifics of the listing. Adding extra keywords to your search can help remove some unwanted results, so you do not have to wade through those extra titles when scanning results.
A little time spent honing your search can save a lot of time going through the results, particularly if you use a search more than once. Setting a price range can eliminate many items that you are not interested in. If you know you only want a new or used item, that can cut your results down significantly.
In some cases, the seller may be entirely blameless; eBay will often use keyword substitution, or may direct the search into a particular category based on the keywords you have used. To bypass these features, you can try putting one of your search terms in quotes to search the literal term without substitution, or use an exclusion term preceded by a minus sign to weed out results with those keywords.
Keep in mind that eBay's search algorithms are based on text matching; the computer does not know what a toy train is. It does have lots of data about what users searching using that term wound up looking at and ultimately buying, though. And that can affect what items turn up in results.
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 08:50 AM - edited ‎12-30-2020 08:50 AM
@bflockett wrote:Do you want a door mat when you're searching for a toy train?
Do you want a lamp when you're searching for dog food?
What is the improper keyword in the door mat listing that matches the toy train?
What is the improper keyword in the lamp listing that matches the dog food?
Can you give us the search terms that illustrate either of these?
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 08:53 AM - edited ‎12-30-2020 08:53 AM
I've found whenever doing a specific search, it often helps to put quotation marks around the keywords I'm specifically interested in. It doesn't catch all the wrong stuff but it does drastically reduce them.
Might work for you. Might not.
<edit: spelling>
Joe
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‎12-30-2020 09:10 AM
It's my understanding that eBay searches use Boolean search operators, so I also use the hyphen (playing its role as a "minus" sign, in this case) to remove listings with specific words I'm not interested in:
"world's greatest seller" mug -plate -badge -sweater
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‎12-30-2020 09:14 AM
I'm not sure if I understand.
Are you accusing sellers of keyword spamming?
If so, I don't think that's the whole case. eBay has changed its search engine to show all kinds of irrelevant items in search. Much like the River does.
Yes, it is horrible. Yes, it pushes buyers away. And yes, there's probably nothing you can do about it. It's the new shiny object of the internet world.
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 09:19 AM - edited ‎12-30-2020 09:22 AM
On that note the parenthesis () helps as well.
Use this as an "OR" operator.
For example:
(motor,engine,short block,shortblock) lawn mower (riding,"zero turn") -nuts -bolts -starter -belt -blades
I am not certain if the quotes inside the parenthesis work.
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 09:43 AM
i'm pretty sure after you hit whatever button it is to submit your report, the data goes straight into the bit bucket...
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‎12-30-2020 10:07 AM
I say an art listing that copied a whole list of artist for the description: of course all but one of the 300 or so had anything to do with the art.
Key word spamming and category spamming are the way with ebay these days.
Pointless to bother reporting such.
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‎12-30-2020 10:20 AM
i'm pretty sure after you hit whatever button it is to submit your report, the data goes straight into the bit bucket...
That has not been my experience; I have been reporting fraudulent listings from likely hijacked accounts, and quite often listings that I report are taken down shortly afterwards -- even those that have not resulted in any sales yet. Obviously I cannot know whether my reports played any direct role in the removal. Most likely there has to be some critical mass of independent complaints (or a particularly egregious and obvious violation), or a combination of complaints plus other suspicious detectable behavior that brings the listing to eBay's attention before any action is taken.
Perhaps the listings I have reported would have been removed by eBay absent my reports, but I prefer to make the reports regardless, on the chance that my reports might speed up the removal process.
KEYWORD SPAMMING - Why can you report something that has no consequences?
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‎12-30-2020 10:43 AM
I am not certain if the quotes inside the parenthesis work.
I believe the following expressions are treated equivalently:
(riding,"zero turn")
(riding,zero.turn)
(riding,zero turn)
At least they seem to provide the same numbers of results.
