example of search MESS

[collectfest]

Searched "miniature store" two items came up for sale.

For the fun of it put in "miniature general store", note MORE characters added general, 288 items came up.

Not good. Less words should bring up more items NOT less. 

Miniature store display, again more characters brought up 258 items.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Search uses first 2 words.

Many sellers misspell 'miniature' for 'minature' as well. 

[collectfest]

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@stainlessenginecovers wrote:

Search uses first 2 words.

Many sellers misspell 'miniature' for 'minature' as well. 

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Agreed, many, including me make mistakes in spelling. Having said that using your example, miniature store display, first two words are miniature store.

Search should reflect those who know how to spell as a priority and those who do not as a secondary. A general assumption should be made more know how to spell than don't know how to sell in my humble opinion. 

Search is a mess and here is an example. Do others have examples? 

[luckythewinner]

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@collectfest wrote:

Searched "miniature store" two items came up for sale.

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Actually, mine says 0 results. The two I see are sponsored listings 🙂

miniature store = 0 listings 

"miniature store" = 73 listings 

+miniature +store = 2572 listings 

When searching +miniature +store , it says "did you mean miniature store (2710 items)?

When you click that link, the search for miniature store now shows 2572 listings. 

And yes, I checked to see if there was "category switching" involved - there wasn't.  

The difference seems to be that the URL that returns the 2572 listings has &_blrs=spell_check at the end, while the one that returns 0 does not. 

Definitely something wonky. 

[donsdetour]

62 results for "miniature store"

0 results for miniature store

2,564 results for miniature store

2,598 results for miniaure store

[luckythewinner]

General reply: 

A search for miniature store store or for miniature miniature store returns the list that should come back from miniature store. 

So it seems like the two-word search is misbehaving. 

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

Yes, the first search for miniature store is definitely broken. For me it returns zero matching results, and two sponsored items.

Sometimes when a search fails, it is because eBay is doing an odd or inappropriate keyword substitution, or treating two keywords as a single unique phrase. It is possible that those keywords were originally steered into a particular category that now no longer exists, and so no results are found.

When a fairly broad search returns zero results, it often makes sense to try variations of the keywords, to see if that provides better results. If eBay is grouping keywords inappropriately, changing the keyword order can undo that.

Some possible alternative searches:

store miniature: 2571 results

miniature "store": 1967 results.

miniatures store: 2571 results

"miniature store": 73 results

"store miniature": 125 results

mini store: 15,738 results.

[collectfest]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@collectfest wrote:

Searched "miniature store" two items came up for sale.

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Actually, mine says 0 results. The two I see are sponsored listings 🙂

miniature store = 0 listings 

"miniature store" = 73 listings 

+miniature +store = 2572 listings 

When searching +miniature +store , it says "did you mean miniature store (2710 items)?

When you click that link, the search for miniature store now shows 2572 listings. 

And yes, I checked to see if there was "category switching" involved - there wasn't.  

The difference seems to be that the URL that returns the 2572 listings has &_blrs=spell_check at the end, while the one that returns 0 does not. 

Definitely something wonky. 

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Thanks for the info. Code is all new to me. I am just a guy who wants to buy something. I am just going to search for what I want in the way I want to. I think many other buyers are the same way. We do not have the knowledge or want to dedicate the time to obtain the knowledge you possess. 

There are many places I can spend my disposable income on antiques. For years it was here on eBay. I will keep looking on eBay but search is changing in a way this buyer isn't satisfied with.

[collectfest]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

General reply: 

A search for miniature store store or for miniature miniature store returns the list that should come back from miniature store. 

So it seems like the two-word search is misbehaving. 

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interesting, maybe you can apply for a job with eBay to work on this PLEASSSSEEEEEE

[collectfest]

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@eburtonlab wrote:

Yes, the first search for miniature store is definitely broken. For me it returns zero matching results, and two sponsored items.

Sometimes when a search fails, it is because eBay is doing an odd or inappropriate keyword substitution, or treating two keywords as a single unique phrase. It is possible that those keywords were originally steered into a particular category that now no longer exists, and so no results are found.

When a fairly broad search returns zero results, it often makes sense to try variations of the keywords, to see if that provides better results. If eBay is grouping keywords inappropriately, changing the keyword order can undo that.

Some possible alternative searches:

store miniature: 2571 results

miniature "store": 1967 results.

miniatures store: 2571 results

"miniature store": 73 results

"store miniature": 125 results

mini store: 15,738 results.

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Wow, min store is the winner! Thanks

[eburtonlab]

You are most welcome.

When searches act up or fail entirely, it can often be very frustrating to find what you are looking for.

Whenever I run into a problem finding something, I try to think back to the old pre-internet days when searching was done by going through paper catalogs and classified ads, and orders were placed by making a phone call or mailing in a handwritten order form, when it was just not possible to simply type a part number into a phone and see hundreds of results appear in a second, and then I realize that the internet is... not so bad.