Titles Missing on the Search

[MadGirlRetro]

I hope this is just a temporary bug but I noticed that titles are missing on the search. At first I thought it was the shop. Some shops' titles were "Set of 2," or "Set of 4," and nothing else. I was thinking, what kind of shop is this? Set of 2 WHAT? I see plates but what kind of plates? I wondered if this was a gimmick by the shopkeeper to get me to click on the listing to see what it is and it annoyed me. Other titles said simply, "Platter," or "Ridgway." What kind of platter? Ridgway WHAT? I see a number of pieces of china in the picture. Please tell me this is a temporary glitch! I bet a lot of shopkeepers don't know their listings look like this on the search. I'm afraid that pretty soon, going by how our description is always being hidden, Etsy is hoping our customers are psychic. 

[ChillwolfArt]

Unfortunately, that is the truncated Title test.  I have seen it, and can only imagine what Buyers who are in this test think (that the Seller purposely wrote it that way).  I ended up deleting my commas (I don't prefer it that way, but prefer it less with the truncation).  And I'm not suggesting you do that, but that test doesn't fly.

Also, we often tell Sellers not to Title similar items the same way (especially at the beginning of the Title); so that similar items won't compete with each other.  So we may flip certain phrases to prevent that.  

[IndustrialBlonde]

@ChillwolfArt  I too have started to remove punctuation as I often put a condition note toward the end of the title. And now with hidden descriptions, that little bit of info is of mighty importance. 

[ChillwolfArt]

ETA: Sorry, didn't finish my thought above:)
"Also, we often tell Sellers not to Title similar items the same way (especially at the beginning of the Title); so that similar items won't compete with each other.  So we may flip certain phrases to prevent that." 

If our goal is to put the most important words first within the Title, items which are similar may very well be Titled the same at the beginning of the Title. Hence, they will compete with each other. Try to prevent that by flipping a phrase, and you may not have the most important words first within the Title.

There...now I'm finished:)

[IndustrialBlonde]

I’m going to bet that this is due to punctuation. Others have reported that they see titles stop at the first punctuation mark. So, a logical comma or dash stops the title. 
Presumably, this is intentional and not a glitch. 

[ChillwolfArt]

@IndustrialBlonde  You are correct.  It will stop after the comma and special punctuation. And yes, it's intentional.  Doesn't make a bit of sense.

[moorelivingnaturally]

So in my titles I do space dash space in between my titles. Is the dash also going to cause the punctuation issue?

[ChillwolfArt]

@moorelivingnaturally  Yes, I believe so re: the dash.

[ChillwolfArt]

@moorelivingnaturally  I did some searches (I'm in this test), and I'm seeing chopped off Titles.  I don't see any with space dash space. But I do see "3-piece". And it's not chopped off. I also see "Halloween: space text". The colon isn't chopped off.

[RaineyGirlVintage]

@ChillwolfArt  - that's interesting that not all punctuation marks are created equal in this test (but should I really be surprised? lol)  Etsy is guilty of punctuation discrimination?!  : - )

[After9Marbles]

Yes this has been horrible for my shop. I sell marbles I like to put the size in the title as most people do not read or can not find the description. Unfortunately to use any kind of punctuation ruins the search function. I have been slowly moving my marbles elsewhere where I can use things like .63 or 1" or 5/8" things that people understand as a unit of measurement. I guess the geniuses or bots at Esty didnt think of the impact. If Esty hides descriptions and we cant use the title to indicate size what are we do do.

[dayspringcollectible]

 "I guess the geniuses or bots at Esty didnt think of the impact."

Oh, they thought of the impact.  They like to use us as guinea pigs for all kinds of useless tests, just so they can research how changing things impacts views and sales, and get some specific statistics to go with each test.  It doesn't matter that they and everyone else knows it is a bad idea.  They want to satisfy their curiosity by getting stats to show just how bad an idea it is.  If they ruin a few sellers in the process, oh well.  There are thousands of new shops opening up each week to replace them.

[DollHeaven]

@After9Marbles I found I had the same problem with my doll clothes where I often start the title with the doll size.  So now, instead of using the " symbol, I type the word 'inch' so you can read more of the title.

[RaineyGirlVintage]

I truly hope this test is over soon; it makes it so challenging to browse, and makes us sellers look like we're lazy or don't know how to title our listings (when only viewing from Search).  I also don't like the idea of removing the commas from all of my listings, because then it will just be one long jumble of words.

[HolidaysLane]

ETSY please for the love of all things good in this world END the truncated title test!!!!!  

[MouseGarden]

The shortened title test is just as stupid as the description moved to where no one can see it test, or the one where random photos take the place of the one the seller chose for the first picture.  And Etsy has made it so there are no work arounds that can avoid all these things. 

If I decide to put description in one of the photo slots, then suddenly it is in the first product slot, and not the photo.  That happened with my photo about shipping.   

It makes me look like I don't know what I am doing.

If Etsy would stop doing random things and just let people, you know, sell stuff, we could both make some money.

[CobnutCottage]

This has helped a number of people understand and fix the problem for now. Hope it helps you.

https://community.etsy.com/t5/Managing-Your-Shop/Current-Workaround-for-Wrong-Images-and-Truncated-T...

[MadGirlRetro]

It looks so bad. I just ran across a shop's listing in the search that said, "Set of," and that was it. She probably has no idea her listing looks stupid. 

[LynnsLittleShop]

@moorelivingnaturally  I just searched for your wood autumn serving tray and only saw those first words, so yes they are cutting off yours at the dash. 

[MadGirlRetro]

Still hoping Etsy stops cutting off the titles. Some shops think it's not happening to them because they see their complete titles on their homepage. You have to do a search to see it. 

[RaineyGirlVintage]

Agreed, @MadGirlRetro .  It's disconcerting this test is still going on, since I still cannot see where this test is valuable.  Unless Etsy thinks buyers will be curious about an item that has a title shown as only "SALE!" or "Size M", and nothing else, so they'll click it and buy it?  I dunno, just doesn't make sense to me.  I've always been a fan of "set the listing up so that it is easy for the customer to access all pertinent information, so they can buy with confidence as soon as possible".  Sigh.