eBay Explains Cassini Search

[pierrelebel]

eBay's Hugh Williams Explains Cassini Search, Part One

By Ina Steiner
EcommerceBytes.com
July 01, 2013

eBay rolled out a new search engine to users in North America this month, and sellers have lots of questions. What exactly is "Cassini"? Will shoppers notice a difference when searching for items? How will it impact the upcoming holiday shopping season, if at all? Vice President of Experience, Search and Platforms Hugh Williams joined EcommerceBytes Editor Ina Steiner to answer these questions and more.

....

"We don't share our metrics publicly for obvious reasons. In my mind, our goal is really to make sure that we're successful in connecting buyers to sellers, and we look at that in lots of different ways to make sure we understand the full picture."

For more: http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m07/i01/s01 

[cumos55]

There has been a lot about Cassini on Ecommerdcebytes.com

From an earlier presentation......

What a seller should do...

In his post, Williams had specific advice on getting found in search, a summary of his nine tips follows:

• List in the correct category with a meaningful title.
• Use item specifics and item condition.
• When it makes sense for your business, use a long-duration, multi-quantity Buy It Now format
• Study what it takes to be a Top Rated Seller on eBay.
• Have great, large, clear pictures for your listings.
• Be price competitive (and be prepared to make changes).
• Specify shipping costs.
• Have a clear, structured, and comprehensive item description. Stay "on topic" and describe your item accurately.
• Offer fast shipping and international options.

and then... The Three tenets...

Williams also said eBay's search team focuses on three tenets of delivering a great experience for buyers:

"Trust: ensuring our buyers get a retail-like experience from great sellers;

Value: ensuring our buyers find great deals, including shipping costs; and

Relevance: ensuring our buyers see items that match what they want."

Maybe they say....We don't share our metrics publicly....

The above factors may be a good start...

[cumos55]

There is some talk on eBay.com  that not all listings will show up in a search.

Could be a critical factor if all sellers pay the same listing fee for the same visibility.

But then what happens if there are no listings fees....  as some have indicated  what eBay  might eventually do

Now, with no listing fees .... all listings are equal...   and Cassini will make some listings more equal than others....

and with no listing fees...  not showing up in a search is no longer a problem.

Pay only when inventory sells.

How to be a small seller with a big presence on eBay... That is the question..

Trust... Value... Relevance

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Ecommerce is directly funded by eBay. That link of Pierres was to a scripted interview with scripted Answers. Answers that said nothing.

Cumos, your post was more informative, but, I am still not getting the basic "metrics". Proper category, great title, include shipping costs. Great news. What is this, 2003?

The "Three Tenets" have what to do with search placement?

So, they want us to do better with the new system but will not tell us what the new system is? Is this the old game of "If you don't know, I will not tell you?"

[cumos55]

Trust

A seller's standing on eBay.

Ratings.... How buyers view each seller

How one seller compares to another seller.... within a specific search

Value

Seller's price relative to other sellers of the same item or type of item

How a buyer rates the service provided by the seller.

How the buyer views the "value" of an item received....Value is more than just dollar value... quality of product , or even perceived value/quality  in relation to price paid...

The lowest price is not always the item purchased  --- Service provided  and the quality of the product is critical...  good photographs!  and many photographs if appropriate

Relevance

Keywords  will still be important...  longer titles allow for more information... 

while the content  of the description will also be used by Cassini  (This is something new)

Understanding how potential buyers do a search... and what they are looking for.... 

Meeting the needs of the buyer....real or perceived... In titles and description

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Some sellers can be very negative  or very lengthy in presentation of their ...  Terms of Sale.....

Will this get picked up by Cassini?....

Key... Negative.. words or phrases

Will Cassini be able to pick content in the description that goes against eBay rules?  and down grade those listings!

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Cumos, what are you intimating, that buyers no longer have to check the description box as Cassini will intuitively look there? Yow!

Computers that think? That is an interesting perspective. Adds a whole new variable to keywords, aka, what is the buyer thinking. Positive sounding words and phrases will move you up over negativity?

"No refunds" moves you down the search and "money back" moves you up? Sort descriptions, or poor format, move you down? Properly formatted move you up?

Oye.

[pierrelebel]

Inuk - you got that one wrong.

Ina (a former seller on eBay) has been a critic of eBay over the years.  To learn more about eCommercce Bytes;

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/pages/about/ 

Steiner Associates LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC
Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to
provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and
linking to amazon.com.

[cumos55]

And Then

Think of every possible variable...

with each variable given a weighting... a weighing relative to other variables...

and a weighing, perhaps, being different depending on the category of item being searched....

Search is like a giant pyramid.... you start at the bottom and climb to the top..

Sometimes you have to back to the bottom in order to move forward again...

Does Cassini remember what the search was  and what you bought? 

Buyer behavior whether during a search or after a purchase,  is a Cassini variable....

[cumos55]

Information about Cassini using the description...

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m06/i26/s01

One feature Williams seemed willing to talk about was Cassini's ability to search the description field of listings - the previous search engine searched only titles and catalog data. "Sellers will no longer have to rely on the title to ensure their items get visibility," he has said.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

I meant for there to be a question mark after Ecommerce. That was a pizz-poor "interview" and more of a rah-rah for us series of statements. It was of an advertising feature the way it came across.

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

So, Cumos, a great title still counts. A great description can move up a poor title. A TPS with a poor title and a poor description gets moved down?

Let me stretch the concept as I am conceptualizing it. My computer, not just eBay, knows what I look for. I can tell by the search results I get. I can tell by the banner ads I get. eBay is now taking that and watching what I search for, what I click on, what I delve into.

It is now taking this information and matching it up with titles, decriptions, options. Theoretically, it should see that I am in Canada and priorize lisings that are available to me even when I am searching on dot com.

Then, eBay is going to further sort based on adherence to best practises? Keywords as opposed to junk words and punctuation in titles moves one up? Bullet point description vs long winded paragraphs should move those listings up? Stated domestic and international shipping, vs contact the seller, is another move up? The longer and more liberal the refund policy vs no refunds, and you get moved up?

Everything that eBay ever said "This is what you should be doing" is now going to count?

[cumos55]

What happens on eBay.com is different than what happens on eBay.ca... 

I regularly check and compare the two sites based on the following sequence.

Books > Nonfiction > History > Canada

and the order for listings, and more specifically my listings,  is different between the two sites.

I have a very good placement in a search on eBay.ca  because I am a TRS.....

but not on eBay.com  where I do not have a standing as a TRS plus..

A TRS on eBay.ca  does  get a measure of good visibility on eBay.com, but not as good as a TRS plus.

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What eBay says should be in a listing  could be important to varying degrees with Cassini..

Cassini adds up the pluses and minuses  with their respective weightings and that is where the listing is placed in a search.

Not all variables used by Casinni are weighted as equal....

and it is the overall total  that controls where the listing shows in a search.

One can do everything "right" ... not be a TRS  and still do very well on eBay

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

it is the overall total  that controls where the listing shows in a search

Those search results will also vary with the person searching? I have always considered how buyers search. Now, I need to give them more or what they search with and for? There are sellers who will try to tigure out the equation. Thing is, the equation will be different for every seller and buyer. The equation will be constantly shifting.

The computer will be thinking.

I had very strange sales patterns starting about June 1. Days with nothing followed by a string of mega-days. New listings were definitely doing better than old listings. I am down for a month and working on an entirely new strategy.

I have wanted a re-start and this is my opportunity.

[cumos55]

Cassini is an advanced level of the old search protocol...

More variables are added with Cassini,  in an effort to make it easier for a buyer to find what they want... To show the buyer  the best of all options.

----------------------------------

Also.... Many years ago eBay was given permission to put a "cookie" on each computer, whether it be buyer or seller.

[cumos55]

on eBay.com...

I also got the impression that Cassini would be more important for, or only be applied to,  stores inventory, mainly because of the GTC or long term listings...

Auction listings already get a different placement than stores inventory, and better placement  than stores inventory

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Okay, I have all of that. How do you and I specifically maniuplate search for our benefit? Where, what,are your weights for books? Where, what, are my weights for used car parts? Pierres for stamps? BBs for nostalgia?

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Now we are overlapping responses.

I did postulate, with the store pricing change a couple months back, that store owners would see an enhancement in ther placing. A rewrd for loyalty, as it were. eBay knows who is living off the free listings and who is paying to be here. This is becoming an industry norm

The Wpg Free Press is putting up paywalls. I had an interaction with a reporter. He said "Why should I talk to you when you will not buy our product?". Well, why should eBy promote listings from non-payers?

I am seeing a lot of freeloaders being very unhappy, over on Seller Central dot com.

[cumos55]

Each of us learns what is appropriate for the inventory sold by each of us.

Much of what I do is specific to books....  and I am working on the next step in improving my visibility....  and looking to an improvement in sales.

More listings, and adjusting old listings.....deleting some old inventory....  follow placement in a search and then traffic to all inventory.

Some of what I am doing will work for others.... 

Must do more testing  and have conclusive data over a longer period of time....  before  I can come to a final conclusion that will help other sellers.

[pierrelebel]

Part 2:

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/cab/abn/y13/m07/i02/s01 

[inuk_the_polar_bear]

Part II of a non answer. Again, why I say eBay owns Ecommerce. That was an advertisibg feature, not an interview.

Take away.

I am seeing this statement a lot when it comes to eBay: "They want to get a great experience." How is that measured? What are the triggers, in a listing, in a seller, in a sale process, that create that in a measureable way?

The free shipping thing is again being flogged. That WILL move a seller up. Easy returns is a no brainer.

"...as they were described" and "And they want relevance." DSR for as described? Kinda hard to measure relevance without a measurement. Maybe, relevance will be triggered through a combo of search words, views, purchases? A seller with a higher sell through rate has a higher level of relevance?

- deliver that trusted experience

- delivering a relevant experience

- titles that are clearly on topic

- descriptions that are precise

- really great imagery