Search Analystics

[MrsPunchNeedle]

Hi guys

Doesn't 'status' in Search Analytics show the estimated rank of that listing in that tag?

The 'status' in the list shows up as 127, so shouldn't it be on page 3 or 4 on average?

However, my list does not appear on those pages in searches, I went up to 15 pages and I could not see my list.

What can I do about it? is there a problem with my list?

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@MrsPunchNeedle  :  There is no longer anything like a ranking in search. 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, not even your own, to define how your listing is ranked. The old way of estimating ranking by searching for your item is dead. The only way to know your listing's ranking would be for Etsy to share its algorithm but even that changes constantly as they tweak it.

[MrsPunchNeedle]

I'm not so sure about this.
Yes, there are personalized searches, but when a new user searches for the first time, they get similar results, I think I tried this on different ips from a computer and mobile device and the result was close.

And why have the Search Analystics 'status' part if the ranking is so different for everyone.

I believe this gives an approximate value for everyone

[BagmakerSupply]

@MrsPunchNeedle  :  But how many people searching on Etsy are new users?  When you say "status" do you mean the "position" number? (On desktop browser we do not have a "status" column unless you have something different from what we do. And we only see search terms not individual listings.  Shop Manager > Marketing > Search Analytics)  If that is what you mean, it is the average position, so if one person saw listings that match the search term in the first position and another had it in the 500th position, the average would be 250. More useful would be the median position if the search term had any volume of activity.

[cindylouwho2]

Silverman has admitted to investors that search here isn't really that personalized yet @BagmakerSupply , but we know there are lots of tests, and even new visitors may see something contextualized to their location, browser, device etc. Etsy can also use what they know about that visitor from cookies and data sharing to customize as well, although that is in the very early stages as far as I can tell. 

To answer @MrsPunchNeedle's main question, search analytics shows the average rank across the chosen time period for all of your listings in that keyword search. If you clicked on the listings link to see individual average rankings and still got an odd result, it's possible you might have ranked better on Monday and lots of people clicked, but now it has averaged out. Or maybe you are being frequency capped for that search today.  There are numerous reasons that your average rank for everyone could have been different in the last month than it is for you today. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@cindylouwho2  :  I think I may have expressed myself poorly. I agree with you that personalized search is not that personalized yet (and that is part of my issue with it) but that does not mitigate (and perhaps enhances) the fact that not only is search not reliable for the buyer but a seller cannot rely on search results to tell them anything meaningful.

[cindylouwho2]

@BagmakerSupply I get lots of meaning out of Etsy search results, but I never check just one browser one time. Using a clean machine with a VPN and having a network of folks willing to check for you is also really meaningful!