eBay.com tell buyers what to search for

July 11, 2008

eBay.com have made some changes to their New Search Experience following member feedback on recent trials. Preferences have been made ’sticky’, i.e. what you pick stays picked, and more options have been added to the advanced search. As of next week, more members are going to start seeing the new version of search, and those who aren’t included in the trial can still test things out in the Playground.

From what I’m hearing, the new search system has not so far won many friends. Even some pretty experienced users have had trouble figuring out just how it works. But if there was suspicion of Best Match and Finding 2.0, this is going to be ten times worse:

search suggestions

We have also added an Auto Complete feature, which provides search suggestions in real time right from the search box!

Of course, if yours is one of the keywords that pops up on the first letter, this will be superb for you - but if your words never show at all, then you’d better hope that eBay haven’t distracted your buyers before they’ve finished typing. Buyers really should be trusted at the very beginning of the search process to know what they’re looking for, and left to get on with finding it: this horrible new feature should go.

Written by Sue Bailey · Filed Under Site Changes, eBay.com | 14 Comments