We just did a search in our own store and noted that eBay changed the search word(s) automatically. We typed in Kang (a Marvel character) and eBay changed the search word to "King" . This changed the results from 2 to 52. If this happens on the site search too it might explain the lack of views or does eBay really think they know what is in the searchers mind ? There may be many reasons why sales and views are down but eBay inserting in what the AI thinks you are searching for does not help.
Yes, the search coding, whether it is AI or an algorithm, attempts to automatically correct for some typos, misspellings, and spelling variations. The parameter's are overly sensitive and often result in erroneous searches.
I have seen an uptick in the number of complaints about the auto-correction of search keywords, so it is certainly possible that eBay has changed something recently that has resulted in more unwanted "corrections".
You can bypass the auto-correction by putting one of your search keywords in quotes, like this:
Between eBay's AI doing it and the effin' auto-incorrect doing it, it's a wonder anyone can find anything! eBay also likes to add predicted words that are irrelevant to what I'm searching for .
She who dies with the most toys still dies; when's the estate sale?
Nope. I tried the quote marks “solution” shortly after this recent dismal change in eBay’s search algorithms. It did nothing to improve the quality of my correct search results. I’ve used the same very simple 1-2 word searches for unique words for years, even decades, and could count on half a dozen solid hits. Over the last few weeks, eBay has apparently determined that I am stupid and need help to expand my searches by using “near-miss” searches that increase the hits, but are hits for items irrelevant to me. This change renders the search function virtually useless and provides a horrible UX.
We have had the same happen to us - searching on our unsold list for 'tape' - 'tape recorder' and 'Tape Recorder' bring back difference results. Same with '45 rpm' - '45 RPM' - '45rpm' and '45RPM'
I honestly think that it's some hair-brain idea of how to get more "hit-statistics" on Ebay. Why else would the search terms change for such common words and big brand names? Try typing in a common brand name and item and the results come back with something from another planet. I searched for a "cassette belt" (replacement part for a tape recorder) and changed to "waist belt" with dozens of sex ads, lol.
