This really isn't helping improve the Search function on etsy...

[SewlyButtons]

So, I've just now noticed the. Black. Box.   is back on listings (at least those that I'm seeing). Search is already bad enough here, so bad that I feel like I've won the lottery when someone lands on one of my items.

But, I was doing a search for something else and ran across a Beanie Baby with an insanely HUGE price. I clicked on the listing just to see what could be so pricey about a beanie baby. The search "suggestions" in the black box just totally boggled my mind... just OMG...

Item: Insanely expensive Beanie Baby
Black Box search suggestions:  t shirt, beanie baby, franko b, see, animal

A couple of them make no sense at all. BUT... it gets worse! I didn't click on the word in the search box (don't want to add to any etsy statistics that might help them justify their black box), but I did enter the word "see" into a regular search just out of curiosity (to see how in the world it has anything to do with a Beanie Baby). Well.....   I think it must be the word "baby" that made the AI put in "see" as a suggestion. Results included ALOT of Adult.. over 18... partial nudity... suggestive lingerie... etc etc etc.    Sooo...  I certainly did SEE some beanie BABY

I still wonder what the "Franko B" has to do with a Beanie Baby... but I just can't bring myself to see what that might be all about. The word "see" was plenty enough for me...  

WTF?????

BTW, I've NO clue what board to put this in... 
Marketing your business?  Nope
Managing your shop?  Nope
Technical issues?  Picking this because I think we've got an AI gone WILD...

[PieceByNumberQuilts]

I just did an incognito search on “see” and saw pretty much what you describe.  Which I never would have expected from a single, everyday word like that.  Show the importance of checking each and every one of our tags and keywords to ensure nothing unexpected “pops up” (ahem). 

[SewlyButtons]

@PieceByNumberQuilts 

That might not be enough. These are the ONLY places in that Beanie Baby listing with the word "see". ALL are text placed by etsy... NOT the seller (who is in Germany). Bold and emphasis added by me:

1. Translated by Microsoft
See in original language

2. Etsy Purchase Protection: Shop confidently on Etsy knowing if something goes wrong with an order, we've got your back for all eligible purchases — see program terms

3. See more... in an elongated oval box under "Message N---"

4. See more... in an elongated oval box along with "you may also like"

5. See Etsy's Terms of Use for more information.   At the end of the etsy Disclaimer down at the bottom

[ChristmasIsLove]

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Oh-no-The-black-related-search-box-is-back/m-p/1428...

[SeasideRoseCreations]

Did you actually read the OP or just report it?

It's not ONLY about the black box.  It's about the words put there by Etsy in the box that make no sense and bring up some porn.

@ChristmasIsLove 

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@SeasideRoseCreations Touche!

[mommawhazelsquilts]

@SeasideRoseCreations 

@CarpetCollectionAU

This is the typical response - just throw up a link to a previous post whether it applies or not.

[SeasideRoseCreations]

It's unfortunate because people have legit questions and are scolded w/o help given.

With some of the things that are said and left on these forums, a few duplicate questions isn't the end of the world, but what do I know.

@mommawhazelsquilts 

[SeasideRoseCreations]

Well.....   I think it must be the word "baby" that made the AI put in "see" as a suggestion. Results included ALOT of Adult.. over 18... partial nudity... suggestive lingerie... etc etc etc.    Sooo...  I certainly did SEE some beanie BABY

What's the connection between the word "see" and "baby"?

[MirageRiverCreations]

As @Adorabilities suggests below, “see” is probably related to “see-through” and “baby,” well, I bet everyone knows how that’s related to see-through. Etsy, you’re disgusting.

[hopeandjoystudios]

babydoll is a type of lingerie. SEE through BABY doll. AI..oh I know they seached beanie baby but they must want to search see through baby doll nighties..

[Adorabilities]

There was a discussion a long while back about the word "see" and the problems associated with it.

A seller of children's math workbooks was having full-on nude products show up on his listings as " you might also like" suggestions. Some smart posters figured out that the common word was "see." The nude items were see-through underwear.

They were completely inappropriate suggestions to pair with children's products. 

[FeltOnTheFly]

Even for a 'test' this situation has gone absolutely nuts!  Artificial intelligence is not working.  

[hopeandjoystudios]

(It will probably show you nuts too)

[ReImagineBrewing]

Well, my "Bottle Opener" isn't showing up under that search on Etsy. It does show up if I search "Wine Box". I filtered by my city to double check. Then I went to my shop and did the same search terms. The number of results is the same BUT DIFFERENT ITEMS IN THE RESULTS. They SHOULD match. I'm guessing this somehow is all related...

I think it is the "Best Seller" and "Etsy Pick" badge of death to a product AGAIN! 

[MirageRiverCreations]

The Etsy search is such a mess, I bet if they fixed it for real that all these struggling, dead shops might find their traffic picking up again. I mean, if you went to your orders' history and checked, how many repeat customers do you get versus new customer sales? I'm sure a lot of well established shops have many repeat customers, but if you factor in new traffic and how frequently the repeats buy and find the new traffic is depleted it makes sense your shop would be pretty dead. And it's particularly difficult to get new traffic when your items aren't found in a search looking for them.

[2di4jewelryoriginals]

@MirageRiverCreations 

That's true for my little shop. I bet at least 70% of my sales are to repeat buyers. I get very few new customers these days.

[hopeandjoystudios]

Seriously, I'd rather they were showing NON similar items than better/similar cheaper items (not that I want porn in my listings). I don't feel like I have as big an issue with search that many claim here. I mean it is not GREAT but for what I search for it seems OK. I DO always filter to vintage/actual item at least and sometimes further. The general broad search return IS fairly crap as it is tag based so you get a ton of non-relevant to you returns. I have gotten to the point I do not even look at the BS Etsy is tossing out as tests. There is nothing I can do about it and it would just raise my blood pressure.

[MirageRiverCreations]

@hopeandjoystudios I also wonder if the amount of non-relevant items in a search depends on how wide of variety you would normally shop. I shop mostly patterns, so I mostly see patterns when I search for them. However, the relevance of the kind of patterns varies greatly.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

I think what this is going to do is make people who are actually shopping and really wouldn't mind being shown similar items leave the site.

Why? Because, just like the search ... if the site doesn't show you similar items you might assume that they don't have similar items to show you, eh? 
So no point in looking further.

This is going to do no one any good.

[SewlyButtons]

^^ This ^^

@OneEyeCatStudio 
You are soooooooo right!

Regular search is bad enough, so when a shopper DOES find what they're looking for it's a small miracle.  Instead, the black box as much as says... NOPE... you shouldn't be looking at what you want, look at all this other stuff you're not interested in. We're sorry we didn't lead you astray right from the get-go!!

** intentional snark **