Question
WTF????
When I enter an item name in the regular search box, I am now taken to a "keyword" search results page. which is a disjointed mess!
When did this start happening?
I DO NOT WANT TO SEARCH THIS WAY!
Did I toggle something by mistake??
What really makes me mad is the suspicion that eBay is doing this to pump up use of the keyword search feature.
I use Sellathon, and have had ZERO visitors from Keyword Search...until now.
Answer
That happened to me too yesterday and I just gave up searching because I didn't want to go through all of those catagories. Today after reading your post I tried it again and of course get the keyword search. Then a wild thought crossed my mind-hit the search button again. The search worked.
The catagories on the side of the page are enough. This is a huge waste of time for the buyers!
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When I enter an item name in the regular search box, I am now taken to a "keyword" search results page. which is a disjointed mess!
Welcome to eBay's new and improved search feature. NOT
Joan
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G'day Linda,
Changes to the search occurred about 2 weeks ago, and have been discussed to some extent in this thread.
The basic hint for searching is to put inverted "commas" around a/the word that you are searching with, or an asterisk at the end of the word*, and it will allow you to do a normal search unhindered. Ebay decided that since some users were not educated in how the search engine works, the rest of us could be damned or re-educate ourselves. Business skills at their finest.
Harumph, Kevin
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It is unfortunate that the eBay company culture is so enamored with making things more dense and complex. Any retailer knows that making goods easy to see and buy is the key to success. But the management and staff of eBay is so focused on what technology can do, they have historically resisted every temptation to simplify.
They seem to forget that people go online to save time. When they find their efforts subverted, they often go to another site.
I suspect that eBay's legendary growth, mostly gained by buying up other venues and expanding operations internationally, would be even more phenomenal if they remembered the K.I.S.S. rule. (Keep it Simple, Stupid.)
Indeed, the majority of the dividends that stockholders receive are generated from the interest and appreciation on their immense reserves, not rom their daily operations and profits.
I have long saved intricate search word combinations to my "favorites" page. That way I can drill down to find the things I buy often, without much of the parasitic items attached. A good example is genuine OEM ink cartridges without the generics which dominate the category.
In another thread (I think the one Kevin posted above) it was suggest that eBay is trying to make it necessary to list in more than one category.
By making these changes to search they hope to accomplish this. However, I am not biting. eBay has fiddled with search on a regular basis. And it has not improved it one iota IMHO.
Larry
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You are likely searching on a single keyword. I don't know how buyers expect to find what they really want with one keyword. But then again, I doubt someone searching on one keyword is looking to buy. I'm thinking s/he is browsing for pleasure or researching.
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You are likely searching on a single keyword. I don't know how buyers expect to find what they really want with one keyword. But then again, I doubt someone searching on one keyword is looking to buy. I'm thinking s/he is browsing for pleasure or researching.
A decent percentage of my buying searches are single word, but with the asterisk at the end to catch plurals and misspellings. When I am researching, I usually use more words to find the precise thing I am researching.
Your mileage appears to vary.
Cheers, Kevin
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To me, the buying process is about focusing your search and narrowing it down to a manageable list of results to browse through. Ideally, about 10 results is what I consider the sweet spot.
1) This intermediary page could be removed is all the relevant categories in the left column were displayed instead of partial.
2) The "Popular Searches" is a valuable tool. Clickable keywords could be included right after, "28144 items found for keyword" to narrow down the search.
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To me, the buying process is about focusing your search and narrowing it down to a manageable list of results to browse through. Ideally, about 10 results is what I consider the sweet spot.
Some of my single word searches do that, others are designed as catch alls, so I see things that I would miss if I refined the search - and that I would not think to look for specifically. I guess my "ideal" result is about 50 results - ie: keeping it to one page but giving me a selection to sift through.
If I am looking for something very precise (eg: a specific CD) I don't want the wider range in my results, but when I am looking for something in, say, an area of collecting or memorabilia, I do want to find things that suit without screening them out by doing too refined a search. Everyone does use the search engine differently, and, until they screwed with it in the last few weeks, it was a good tool for this very reason.
Cheers, Kevin