Keyword Match Types and search accuracy

[stetbooks]

I heard something that was a bit disconcerting in Episode 253 of the Podcast, concerning advanced advertising campaigns. This is a common concern for me as a consumer, not so much as a seller.

What device does eBay have for preventing a seller from mis-advertising an item when focusing on product details that are not correct?  Example: consider Depression Glass where color is very important. Pretend we have a nefarious seller who is selling "Diana Pink," and I'm a buyer  doing a search for "Diana Green." Is there a mechanism in the ad selling module that if I'm selling a product that has "green" as the color in the item specifics or description, then I can't bid on "Pink"? 

The frustration happens when the buyer's search for pink gets polluted with "green" listings, because, in this category, no matter how wonderful that green one might be, that's a wasted impression.  Also think of shopping for a pair of size 9 shoes, and the search gets polluted with size 12 and 14. 

As a seller, I wouldn't do that kind of a switch because it's a huge waste of money, but I'm sure there are some who didn't grow up with keyword marketing who might not realize how easy it is to ruin one's User Experience by throwing lots of flagpoles at the wall to see which one sticks.

Many thanks to anyone who has input on this.

[redlinear]

Search pulls up keywords from the title, item specifics, and maybe somewhere else.
Search then sorts according to how much $% sellers have promoted items--vs--sellers reputation (maybe)--vs--how long the listing has been listed--vs--how many of the items the seller has sold--vs--who knows what else.  
And, search will take it upon istself to show and not show Categories, even if related.
Example: Search Engine Block..."engine block" is a category.  So is "engine".  TOO closely related..both should be shown, yet only one is.  Regardless of the Search Words used.
Then you have your 1st bunch of results called BEST MATCH.  (not sure what is best. not sure what is match either).
You can then narrow down and sort this using filters.  But look close, some filters are hard to see/find.

As a seller, you can enter all sorts of info into item specifics to get your items seen.  Good info, Bad info, Intentional, and Accidental.  (eBay wants you to fill in item specifics, yet many of those are irrelevant to your item. So, sellers enter "something" just to be filling in a blank spot.  And there are so many, a lot of times, the last listings info carries over to the new listing, and doesn't get changed..accidental).

Which makes a buyers Search, show crazy results.

IMO:  Search needs to pull up nothing except TITLE words.   The searcher then knows they are seeing the whole picture, and can sort/filter as needed.  OR, browse through everything.
The seller then only has 80 characters in which to Lead a searcher to their listing.  There will be far less Mis Leading with only 80 characters.

[simply-the-best-for-you]

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@stetbooks wrote:

What device does eBay have for preventing a seller from mis-advertising an item when focusing on product details that are not correct?  Example: consider Depression Glass where color is very important. Pretend we have a nefarious seller who is selling "Diana Pink," and I'm a buyer  doing a search for "Diana Green." Is there a mechanism in the ad selling module that if I'm selling a product that has "green" as the color in the item specifics or description, then I can't bid on "Pink"? 

As a seller, I wouldn't do that kind of a switch because it's a huge waste of money, but I'm sure there are some who didn't grow up with keyword marketing who might not realize how easy it is to ruin one's User Experience by throwing lots of flagpoles at the wall to see which one sticks.

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@stetbooks  That can happen both accidentally & intentionally.  When it's intentional, it's called keyword spamming & is against Ebay's rules.  While the listing can be reported, there are LOTS of listings doing KWS & realistically, they get through the bots all the time.   There are some filters in place during listing to prevent some of it.  A common example is let's say I list an item as "used" or "pre-owned" but then I put "new" in the title.  There is a filter that catches that & tells me there's a mismatch & do I want to make a change.  But it's ultimately up to the seller, b/c when that happens to me, "new" is usually in the title b/c the item depicts "New York" , not b/c I'm stating the item is new.  

It can also happen accidentally, which is caused by human error.  Most commonly it's b/c a seller forgets to update their IS's (which also come into play during a search) or uses an old listing as a template & forgets to change a part of it.  These will not be caught b/c the system would have no way of knowing (an item can be both pink & green & a seller uses one in their IS & one in their title).   Also the system does not (and for the most part cannot, at least not reliably) compare photos to text.  

So, basically, it is up to the buyer to read through everything, look at pics & ask any questions in regards to any conflicts in information.   I hope I understood your question correctly & that this helps.  

[stetbooks]

I totally agree with you on the importance of keywords in the title so long as the title remains readable. 

I'm still wondering, though, when I got to search for my "Size 9" shoes, I still get "Size 14" in there., if I'm searching on that specific (ahem) item specific. 

I'm not arguing your point at all; I just want to make sure I'm doing my absolute-very-best within my power on my end, for customers. Because both adages are true: "Cheaters never win" as well as "Cheaters always refund." 😉 

[stetbooks]

Gah! If I had the proverbial dollar for every time I've missed editing something in an item template! LOL

A few years back I had an interesting "adult conversation" [koff] with eBay CS about using "Not" in a title as that being keyword spamming. I said this item was "X-pattern" and NOT "Y-pattern," because a different company called in the Y name. It's a common error if you're looking at the same pattern from two different companies.  I was trying to be the good guy and helping direct one set of buyers away from my product, and instead it looked as if I was trying to snag BOTH types of buyers to mine. Aggh! It took a day of letting the steam vent, but I realized the fault in my listing, and, luckily I hadn't said anything to the CS rep that I would have regretted later as acting unprofessional. 

It was one of those rare occasions with the shoulder with the angel sitting on it won out over the other side with the devil on it. I'm glad! 

[coolections]

Unless you are saying something drastically is going to happen to search then I see no problem. I just typed pink depression glass and EVERY ONE was pink.