eBay Australia Improves Search Results

eBay Australia today announced that they have made improvements to their search.

eBay’s searching has annoyed me for ages. It never made suggestions, it showed far too ‘specific’ results, didn’t suggest correct or alternate spellings (I love you Google) etc.

Now says eBay, “clever new algorithms mean the system can automatically link certain keywords within categories.”

Does it improve the buyer experience?

eBay’s example is the keyword ‘AFL‘.

Previously the search would have only returned results with specifically the term ‘AFL’ in the title. Now however there are plenty of listings on the front page that are AFL related. I am not sure what to think yet. I haven’t done too many searches, but the results look pretty good so far.

A few things to ponder though.

• Will this ‘even up’ the playing field, by narrowing the gap between those sellers who create really well keyworded titles, and those that don’t?

• Does this matter if the site’s buyers find what they want more often and buy more?

In the end, I want buyers to be happy. I want them to find products, buy them successfully and enjoy shopping on eBay (at least while I sell on there!). This search improvement is a good step in the right direction.