Has something changed when searching?

[CrochetToPlay]

I was using Etsy in an incognito window, not logged in, and searched a couple of my listings exactly as they're titled.  Both listings are marked as bestsellers and they didn't show up in the first few pages of results. 

I initially searched for for them to see how they looked since Etsy is showing all my search results as square photos now.   But now I'm just more concerned that my listings aren't even appearing.  Is something up? 

(As an aside, did Etsy announce that we should change our listing photos to square dimensions or is this just a test?) 

[BagmakerSupply]

@CrochetToPlay: "... did Etsy announce that we should change our listing photos to square dimensions ..." https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/We-re-making-updates-to-size-and-ratio-for-listing-image...

"I was using Etsy in an incognito window, not logged in, and searched a couple of my listings" Keep in mind that if everyone on this forum searched for the exact same phrase they would all get different results. Because of "personalized searches" you can NOT rely on anyone's search results to define how your listing is ranked. There are many many factors that affect listing placement and the relative weight of each factor probably changes constantly. Even exact word matches to your title no longer ensure that you will appear on page 1. Your listing may be appearing on page 251 and Etsy is only showing the first 250 pages to the world. Incognito mode does not hide as much as many people think - more than likely Etsy still knows it is you by the IP address.

[CrochetToPlay]

Thanks.  I did see the announcement about photos inside our shop, but didn't see a similar announcement about photos in search results. I just checked and they still recommend a 4:3 ratio here (https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015663347-Requirements-and-Best-Practices-for-Images-in-Y...), so maybe they haven't updated this or maybe square search photos are a test? 

[TylerGraceCo]

For what it's worth, I searched for the nativity set (because I'm obsessed with it). It came up as follows (near Chicago):

Crochet Nativity Set- page 19

Crochet Nativity Pattern - page 14

[CrochetToPlay]

Thanks for taking the time to go through all those pages, sheesh!  I don't know what to make of it...My search results for that keyword are filled with other crafts (not crochet), sweatshirts, and even my Thanksgiving turkey pattern before my listing.  I know search is different for every user but that seems really unusual to me. 

[TylerGraceCo]

I'm going through the same. As soon as a listing becomes a bestseller, it disappears in search. It's happened, I believe, to 7-8 listings of mine in the past.

Yes, the turkey came up on the third or fourth page for both searches. Many unrelated items were also before it. Lots were either not nativity or not crochet, some neither. Facepalm...

[CrochetToPlay]

Ugh, that is so discouraging!  I'm sorry to hear it's affecting your listings as well. 

[audreytherese]

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Announcements/We-re-making-updates-to-size-and-ratio-for-listing-image...

[CrochetToPlay]

Yes, I've seen that announcement.  But strangely, when I upload photos for a new listing, the cropping tool for the main photo is still set to a 4:3 ratio. ?