eBay to make changes to search in 2024!

[siamjane8]

I saw that an eBay moderator said that the search team has seen all the complaints about irrelevant eBay search results and is going to make changes in 2024. 

   Wonderful news. It has gotten worse month over month for the last 7 or so years. Sarah decline in showing what people actually type in the box.

   What do you think they need to focus on?

Less PL add placement?

less manipulation and more focus on accurate organic results?

   I think they finally realized that buyers must use Google to find eBay listings because the dumb AI eBay search engine can't find active ebay listings!

[mam98031]

---

@bennotbill wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

That's rather cold.

---

Maybe so but doesn't the reverse also apply?

All the unhelpful couldn't care less time wasting customer service reps, incompetent programmers, and the rest. You reap what you sow.

---

The opinions of those on the threads doesn't make it true.  They don't know the actual performance of any individual employee of Ebay's.  We simply don't have that kind of insight.  

As far as CS is concerned, you are correct, too often we hear about incorrect info given to someone.  But the thing we don't know is how EXACTLY they presented their problem to that CSR.  We get one side of the story.  Small things left out could mean a great deal to the overall story.

But I have to say, I agree that CSRs really need some better training.  With that said, this is an issue that goes back many years.  It is by no stretch of the imagination a new issue.

[Anonymous]

Ebay is abysmal at this point. Seriously; the last 6-7 years it’s continued to plummet . Im almost over the edge of NEVER using it again. The search engine is at the worst point in history. 

[siamjane8]

   Search works perfectly if you want to buy something that you were not looking for and is more expensive than it should be because seller has to put all the extra promoted listing fees in the price of the item...lol

Seriously though- I am restoring our 1976 jeep cj5 so i am making new purchases daily or sometimes 3x a day... searching on ebay has been frustrating at best and most of my purchases have been made through google search instead of ebay... I just have no patience for being shown promoted listings of things that have nothing to do with what i was searching for.     I have made a few purchases through ebay but i had to find the listings on google because ebay never showed them to me!  Because i was forced off ebay to search- i ended up buying directly from the manufacturers website or other platforms.  I would actually prefer to purchase all on ebay in one convenient place but search here prevents it-   Come on ebay - this is not rocket science- people have been trading and buying since cave men- how did you screw it up so bad.....oh yeah- promoted listings

[steve_stuff]

Hey, I just read all the replies and something is missing from this post - Where are all the 'you're searching wrong' and 'I have no problem finding what I'm searching for' people?

We typed in HP 67XL - the drop down list had the exact working that we wanted - hp 67xl ink cartridges combo genuine - so clicked on that.

It brought up 165 listing

Right off the top - no pun intended - the first two are wrong. Also if you look at the IS model list on the left, there are no HP 67 'plain' or XL listed. As we know for a fact that at least one listing has HP 67XL in the IS for model - ours - I can't believe that no one else put it in.

I then went thru the list, one by one - the first 18 are all single inks. After the one correct listing it's another 53 before the next correct one

Then another seven single inks, another six, six again and finally three singles to make it 100 listing [I didn't check the last 65] with only SEVEN - numbers 19, 73, 81, 88, 95 and two out of the last five - being correct.

But after playing around with search - as in removing combo - it showed 162 of which 58 were combos. Even the cat knows that not right.

[dollocity]

like 2013- cant see me computer???

[jacob*bumbys*barn]

I have noticed this change as well-most/only shopping choices being offered no matter what I search-but I believe it is also do to how much I comp research. Google thinks that's what I want. AI is pretty much ruining everything all while any powers that be tells us it's wonderful. I wonder if Edge worked better for you just because you don't use that browser as often? I always use Chrome. I'll have to use Edge and see what results pop up.

[meme6253]

It could also be that they Advertise for ebay motors, Way to many of us do not get that benefit!

[siamjane8]

@jacob*bumbys*barn  cookies may play some part in it as well like you mentioned but google actually had a press release or a statement of some kind saying that ehey were switching to  amore shopping based layout and algorithms.  Even if i clear cookies and history or use "private tabs", i still get nothing but "for sale" results.

     Switching to other browsers has been the only way to get relevant informational results for me.

[jacob*bumbys*barn]

Ah, I had no idea. As if the only reason why people use the internet is to shop.... Thank you. I will def try another browser.

[siamjane8]

that is the only way these companies respond to the needs and wants of their customers....when we stop using the product and move to competitors......

[drew52infla]

Well it just got even worse again. They have now taken away the search description button. It's clear why - now when you search for anything it checks both the title and description by default (and if you don't believe me just try it). I understand changes when they're helpful, but I fail to see how this helped at all. Rather it has screwed up most of my searches which I had down to a science. I've been a member since 2003, but like many, I see my days here numbered. They change things that don't need changing, and don't change those that do! For example, try searching for "GG". You get tens of thousands of results that have no GG anywhere in the title or even description. It makes no sense at all. But God forbid folks should be able to search title only. I see the incessant and mostly nonsensical changes as reeking of desperation - and it's of course no secret that Ebay is struggling. The solution the well paid executives have decided on is to make changes, any changes, and lots of them and hope, just hope, that something they do will bring Ebay back to its former glory. Outstanding solution. Throw enough darts at the board and eventually you'll hit a bullseye maybe.....but your audience may possibly have left by then. Guess guess guess, disappoint disappoint disappoint.

[foxhill99]

I have searched for an item I listed, using the first 3 or 4 words of the listing, then some keywords, and my own item doesn't appear.

Whaaaaa.......!!

Really great change.

[siamjane8]

@drew52infla   I was curious to see what you were talking about so i ran a few searches. My page still has the little checkbox under the search bar to "include description"..... possible you are in another ebay test group?

[rockyroadtradingpost]

I remember the good old old days when the search results brought up exactly what I wanted and no more.  

 I wonder what's the reasoning to make a search HARDER for buyers?  

Who has time to sift through irrelevant search results and/or to refine your search by excluding all the irrelevant search results? Not me.

[siamjane8]

@rockyroadtradingpost   I remember those days as well...fondly. but here we are today lol.   In short, the answer to your question is control and greed.  If ebay just showed the most relevant and accurate results to what you search for- there would be no room to interject Promoted Listings-which is a free cash cow for ebay.

   Also the "brains above dont want you to find what you want and buy immediately and leave- they want you fumbling around the site hoping you will buy more.

   I remember the the spring update when they rolled out the new search algorithms like it was yesterday- it practically killed ebay- sales plummeted across the platform for at least 6-8months because nobody could find anything in search.   That also introduced the control factor that they wanted so badly andwith it came the account manipulation and "glass ceilings" .   We grew month over month for years as we added more and more listings and grew as a business until literally that day of the spring update- now 6 years later and our gross monthly sales are restricted the same monthly average.  Despite adding thousands of unique quality listings our monthly sales are the same as they were 6 years ago with 1/3 of the listings..... Mind you we are a better seller and more established. We know the ins and outs of customer service and have adapted what we offer to stay on top of what the customers want........ but can no longer grow on ebay for some unknown reason.   Many many sellers have expressed the same situation- in fact some have worked around the artificial restriction of growth by opening more stores and moving product over---then it sells!   

     Just some of the things long time sellers have seen over the years.   

Search is 100% manipulated to meet the needs of ebay (although most would agree that if you showed people what they search for - sales and customer satisfaction would skyrocket)