Items not showing when search results are sorted by Relevancy

[FrenchVintagePrints]

I was trying to check that all my new listings were correctly indexed so I made a search from an incognito browser for a very specific item, which are agamid prints. There are very few listed on Etsy so Etsy finds only 5 results overall. Which is fine by me as one of these 5 is mine so there's very little competition.

My problem is that by default the search results are sorted by Relevancy and when that happens, only 4 of those 5 results appear on the page and of course the missing one is mine. As soon as I select another sorting order my listing appears. It's not that there's too much competition of course so why is Etsy not showing relevant results when looking for items sorted by relevancy? Search is getting more and more challenging for customers.

[compostthis]

I just had an issue with my listings appearing when I was using Safari or Firefox as the mobile browser. I notified Etsy and they said there was no immediate resolve but they are working on fixing the issue. I did find that the issue did not occur using Chrome so, until it's fixed, I've switched my default browser to Chrome. 

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Ok, I was on Firefox so I'm going to try it on Chrome.

[FrenchVintagePrints]

And I just did and it's the same, it's not working on Chrome either.

[PlatypusDream]

Etsy's search engine trys to guess what a customer wants based on browsing history and what is popular right now.

If there are only a few results for what you are looking for, the search engine will fill in the rest with what they THINK you will like (I find they try to populate around 1,800 results).

Note also that if you use two words, you will get results for BOTH of those words.  So, both "agamid" (very few results) AND "prints" (millions upon millions of results).  They might even change the spelling of the first unfamiliar word, thinking you were meaning something more likely / popular.

When you sort by anything other than relevance, those non-exact matches will drop off.

What this might mean is that your item has a very poor listing quality score (which could mean poor SEO, no sales or few sales) OR it is something very, very few people search for or buy.  Etsy will always direct you to "most popular" items that have sold multiple times before.  That's why you get face masks or t shirts or mass produced Disney items that "most" people are looking for.

Some insight:

https://www.etsy.com/legal/policy/search-advertisement-ranking-disclosures/899478564529

[FrenchVintagePrints]

They're not populating anything, only 4 results are showing, not 1800. 

[PlatypusDream]

@FrenchVintagePrints 

Have you checked that the listing is indexed in your own shop's search bar?

Try contacting Etsy.

There have been other reports of this same thing happening to others when they come back from vacation.  They deactivated the listing, then immediately reactivated it.  That fixed it for some people.

[FrenchVintagePrints]

It is indexed otherwise it wouldn't show when I change the search result's filltering order.

[daisysjewellerygifts]

I just tried your search and it did not even show me your shop, there were 52 results in relevancy for me but its just seemed to be from the same 2 shops (But they were not even relevant to what i was asking for)  im in the UK and using Chrome, then changed it to price and then just 5 came up and one was yours, its all really odd!

[ChillwolfArt]

@FrenchVintagePrints  I don't know if this is the one you searched for.  I did a Search for "agamid print".  Two pgs. of results came up, Relevancy.  Your listing was on Pg. 1 in the top row.  I know we all get different results though.  *(Desktop computer, Chrome).

(Noticed the thumbnail photos in search results are much larger than when I last looked. Same computer, browser)

[daisysjewellerygifts]

@ChillwolfArt  it so odd that they show us really different results, they were showing me prints to do with computers and computer games until the last 3 that were what i asked for to see, but it only showed me 3 out of the five that showed up when i clicked on price!!

[PaintingIdeas]

Have you noticed anything strange with the Etsy Analytics Beta? I was shocked to see that the main keyword for my product was visible page aways, and my impressions were way higher the further away from the front page and the closer to the front page the impressions were significaly down. It's really upsetting.

[FrenchVintagePrints]

Strange is the right word... they return completely fantasist results. They've been in Beta for years and haven't worked for years.

[cindylouwho2]

You just listed the item today so it may not be fully indexed. The fact multiple people have now done this rare search today may lead to more frequency capping as well. 

That said, I searched incognito as if from the US and saw 364 listings, with yours first. 

[FrenchVintagePrints]

I'm in Europe. It seems that Etsy is filling up search results with other listings in the US but not here. I still see only 6 listings.

[cindylouwho2]

@FrenchVintagePrints you will generally see more listings in US searches, simply because more people ship there and the larger search volume gives more for the AI to chew on. Certain algorithm changes roll out in the US first as well. 

You've likely also triggered frequency capping on this listing through posting this thread, so there isn't really much point in continuing to check right now.  

[JDTotesnDolls]

It's indexed but using the search agamid prints does not show it.  It show under agamids lizards and shows under agamids print.

This may be a case where the singular does not work.  You may need both agamid and agamids.

You do know that using free shipping is a waste of important space for buyers when items are revealed.  It blocks buyers from seeing important title information unless they hover.  Computers don't care but the human eye looking at the title likes to know that is what they are looking for,

Incognito does not do what you think it does.   "With private browsing, you can remain incognito on a work device, for instance, because your information won’t be stored on your computer. But your privacy ends there. Your employer, internet service provider, the websites you visited, and government agencies may still be privy to information including your browsing history, passwords and cookies." Incognito Mode May Not Work the Way You Think It Does | WIRED     Etsy still knows it is you looking.