Yet another Ebay boo-boo

Bamacues

Bamacues

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Although Ebay can't help customers when it comes to crooked listings, bidders, etc, you can be certain that the Ebay police are in full force when it comes to a violation like (or should I say "such as") I just committed.

I listed a Predator shaft and stated that it was made to fit other cues like Schon, Joss, Scruggs, etc which had a 5/16x14 pin. Ebay yanked it on the last day of the listing beacuse they said I was key-word spamming, and that "like" was not acceptable in the ad. Take a look at the letter below, if you want a good laugh.

Joe

Dear bamacues,

You recently listed the following auction-style listing:

200152766324 - Predator Z-shaft for 5/16x14 cue like Schon, Joss, etc

The listing was removed because it violated the eBay Keyword Spamming policy. The violation occurred when you included the following information in your listing: like Schon, Joss

All fees related to this listing have been credited to your account. We also notified members who placed bids on the item that the listing has
been canceled.

Keyword spamming is the practice of placing inappropriate words in searchable text to draw attention to Web content. To ensure that members' searches produce relevant results, sellers are not permitted to put brand names or other inappropriate keywords in a listing title or description for the purpose of attracting members to a listing. Sellers can only include a brand name under certain limited conditions.

For example, sellers can't make a comparison to the functionality of a brand or celebrity name, or other item, in a listing title. However, sellers can make *one* comparison to functionality in the subtitle or description as long as the listing doesn't confuse members about who manufactured the item. (More than one comparison will cause the listing to be removed.)

In addition, the following words and phrases are generally *not* permitted in the title because they will produce unsatisfactory search results for buyers looking for particular items:
- Like
- Style
- Not
- Inspired by
- Similar to
- Better than


 
Like
- Style
- Not
- Inspired by
- Similar to
- Better than

perhaps this would be more acceptable - my shaft is for sale. The style of my shaft is long a comes to a point. Not like other shafts. This shaft was inspired by natural forces. It may be similar to other shafts but is better than most shafts.
 
OMG!

That is so effen ridiculous!

Ebay is imploding on itself. They have become their own worse enema...:p

-von
 
Well Guys, I Disagree.....

Had Bama Said.... Fits Schon,joss..... Ebay Wouldn't Have Removed It. I've Used The Ebay Search Feature Alot, And I Hate Getting 1000000 Listings For Stuff Im Not Searching For. Cues Aren't Bad In The Search Engine, Except For A Few Keyword Spammers That E-bay Is Slowly Getting Rid Of. But In Other Sections Of Ebay, You Get More Bs Listings Than You Get Usable Listings. Electronics And Watches Are Among The Most Spammed. Electronics Is Horrible, If Ou Type In A Manufacturer, You Get 500 Results But Only 50 Are What You Actually Typed In, The Rest Are Keyword Spammers, And That Is Very Annoying.

Bama, I'm Not Saying You Are One Of Those Guys But Your Listing Got Yanked Because It Violated A Rule, And It's Actually A Very Good Rule. I Had Written Many E-mails To Ebay Asking If There Was A Way To Get Rid Of Keyword Spamming, I'm Glad They're Finally Doing Something About It.
 
fnl i will have to disagree with u...
ebay is incorrectly defining his use of the word "like" joe did not use the word to make it seem comparable to another product. for example "this cue plays exactly like a southwest". he used the word "like" to produce a list a relate it to products that it is designed for.

furthermore i dont see what using the word "like" has to do with irrelevant results. u said urself ebay wont remove it if he simply said it fits schon joss etc. i dont understand what adding the word "like" in front of that list has any relevance to search results. no one is going to go on ebay and search the word "like" and if they were searching for schon or joss then his listing would come up regardless of whether or not he added the word "like" in his listing since it still says fits schon and joss cues.
 
Danktrees said:
fnl i will have to disagree with u...
ebay is incorrectly defining his use of the word "like" joe did not use the word to make it seem comparable to another product. for example "this cue plays exactly like a southwest". he used the word "like" to produce a list a relate it to products that it is designed for.

furthermore i dont see what using the word "like" has to do with irrelevant results. u said urself ebay wont remove it if he simply said it fits schon joss etc. i dont understand what adding the word "like" in front of that list has any relevance to search results. no one is going to go on ebay and search the word "like" and if they were searching for schon or joss then his listing would come up regardless of whether or not he added the word "like" in his listing since it still says fits schon and joss cues.
Click to expand...

THE KEYWORD SPAMMING IS HORRIBLE, AND THE WORD "LIKE" IS USED IN 90% OF THE LISTINGS THAT ARE SPAMMED.

BY USING THE WORD "LIKE" JOE GOT LUMPED IN WITH THEM. I UNDERSTAND HE WASN'T USING IT AS SPAM, BUT HAD HE SAID "FITS" INSEAD OF "LIKE" THE LISTING WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED.

GO TYPE "ROCKFORD FOSGATE" INTO THE SEARCH BAR, AND THEN LOOK THROUGH THE LISTINGS AT HOW MANY SAY "LIKE" ROCKFORD. IT'S VER ANNOYING WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING, AND ALL YOU GET HIT WITH IS LOW PRICE JUNK RIP OFF LISTINGS.

P.S. ROCKFORD FOSGATE IS A HIGH END CAR AUDIO MANUFACTURER.
 
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One thing that bugs me is that this ran almost to the end before being dropped. If Ebay's software picks up words such as "like" in the title and automatically ejects it, then it should do it as soon as you attempt to list the item. That way, you could correct it before it is posted.

I am certain they are using word recognition software, because there would have been no reason to cancel my auction otherwise. It is simply a matter of symantics and grammar, in this case.

I do not know all of Ebay's "rules", but I have 400 listings without ever violating one, now I have a listing dropped for having the word "like" in the title...that is stupid, just plain stupid. As I said, the word recognition software would work just as well at the insert point.
Joe
 
Bamacues said:
One thing that bugs me is that this ran almost to the end before being dropped. If Ebay's software picks up words such as "like" in the title and automatically ejects it, then it should do it as soon as you attempt to list the item. That way, you could correct it before it is posted.

I am certain they are using word recognition software, because there would have been no reason to cancel my auction otherwise. It is simply a matter of symantics and grammar, in this case.

I do not know all of Ebay's "rules", but I have 400 listings without ever violating one, now I have a listing dropped for having the word "like" in the title...that is stupid, just plain stupid. As I said, the word recognition software would work just as well at the insert point.
Joe
Click to expand...

JOE,
I UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT, BUT THIS IS WAY CASE WHERE EBAY IS ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING GOOD. GO LOOK THROUGH THE SEARCH RESULTS AND SEE HOW BAD THE SPAMMING IS. I KNOW IT SUCKS THAT THEY PULLED YOU'RE LISTING, EVEN MORE SO BECAUSE IT WAS ALMOST OVER, BUT THIS IS A GOOD POLICY THAT THEY ARE PUTTING IN PLACE.

AT LEAST THEY REFUNDED YOUR FEES AND COSTS. IF YOU REREAD YOUR LISTING, USING THE WORD "LIKE" THE WAY YOU DID, MAKES IT LOOK LIKE A SPAM LISTING. I UNDERSTAND IT ISN'T, BUT SOMEONE NOT IN THE POOL COMMUNITY WOULDN'T KNOW THAT. IF IT HAD SAID "FITS" INSTEAD OF "LIKE" IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED. I KNOW IT'S ONLY GRAMMER, BUT WOULD YOU WANT 300 FAKE, OR KNOCK OFF ITEMS, IN EACH OF YOUR SEARCH RESULTS?

P.S. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SALE.
 
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Got smacked for the very same thing myself a few months ago. Of course it was only after my multiple 10 day auctions had been running for 7 days with several bids and I had answered tons of questions. Then when ebay killed my listings I got even more emails from the bidders wanting to know what happened.
They don't have any problem killing the auctions for keyword spamming, but can't even begin to keep up with the redirect pages trying to steal userids and passwords.
 
FAST_N_LOOSE said:
GO TYPE "ROCKFORD FOSGATE" INTO THE SEARCH BAR, AND THEN LOOK THROUGH THE LISTINGS AT HOW MANY SAY "LIKE" ROCKFORD. IT'S VER ANNOYING WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING, AND ALL YOU GET HIT WITH IS LOW PRICE JUNK RIP OFF LISTINGS.

P.S. ROCKFORD FOSGATE IS A HIGH END CAR AUDIO MANUFACTURER.
Click to expand...

well like i already said, the way joe said "like" is completely different to your example. he's not saying the shaft plays like _________. and even if he removed the word "like" and removed the spamming it would still turn up the same results since he would still be using the word schon and joss etc. so i dunno what u just said has anything to do with joe's situation. even in ur situation it isnt the word like that returns inaccurate results so removing it does absolutely nothing.
 
I have had the same situation with Ebay and it's pretty frustrating. Like Joe said, it's really bad when they let it run and accumulate bidders and then it's suddenly yanked. The bidders think there's some kind of shenanigans going on (even if they even find your new listing).

My deal was for a cue in "The Traditional Szamboti Style", with "Szamboti" being the spam word. I tried to explain to the powers that be that Gus Szamboti is dead and that the word is used to reflect a standard phrase or description in cue world, but just got the standard boiler plate answer about my violation.

I have been with Ebay for many years and have over 250 deals and a 100% rating. I think that if they had a problem, it would have been an easy thing to contact me and ask me to remove the word or to edit my listing. I have been a good customer and would expect that same treatment in return on their part. As it was in my listing, I had to take pictures all over again and go through the entire listing process (weighing, measuring, writing the ad, etc.). I lost my bidders (except for the ones that thought I was pulling something if Ebay had to pull my listing). I had $1,200 in bids when the listing was pulled and got just over $1,000 when the final hammer fell for the second auction. Thanks Ebay!

Then to top it off, the very next day I saw a case that I had bought (and never received) on another auction. Ebay had just paid me my $200 protection fee, less their fees, so I sent them a copy of the original auction and pointed out that this new auction was in the same town, used the same pictures, and used identical verbage, and even pointed out the fact that Ebay had just paid me for this rip off. Think they could cancel that auction? No way! They have bigger fish to fry *&^$*#$# keyword spammers...

I understand where Marcus is coming from, as without rules the place would be chaotic. I just think Ebay could be a little more discerning as to what their real problems are like: phishing, ID theft, and general accountability for the well being of their customers...

Steve
 
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Danktrees said:
well like i already said, the way joe said "like" is completely different to your example. he's not saying the shaft plays like _________. and even if he removed the word "like" and removed the spamming it would still turn up the same results since he would still be using the word schon and joss etc. so i dunno what u just said has anything to do with joe's situation. even in ur situation it isnt the word like that returns inaccurate results so removing it does absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...

THE PEOPLE AT E-BAY DON'T KNOW "HOW" HE'S TRYING TO SAY IT, THEY JUST KNOW WHAT IT SAYS.

HAD THE WORD "LIKE" NOT BEEN THERE, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED.

I ALREADY SAID THAT I UNDERSTOOD THAT BAMA WASN'T SPAMMING, BUT THAT HE WORDED IT WRONG.

THE WORD "LIKE" IS A KEY WORD IN THE REMOVAL SOFTWARE THAT EBAY USES. JOE GOT STUCK IN A LOOPHOLE, BECAUSE HE WASN'T SPAMMING, BUT TO THE SOFTWARE AND THE EBAY SCANNER IT LOOKED LIKE HE WAS.

I UNDERSTAND THAT THE WORD LIKE IS WHAT IS SCREWING UP THE SEARCH RESULTS, BUT 90% OF THE SPAMMED LISTINGS USE THE WORD LIKE. THAT'S WHY THE SOFTWARE LOOKS FOR THAT WORD.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND NOW, WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY?
 
Ebay . . . Ughhhh!

It's gotten a lot worse the last two years . . . lots of rip-offs and cons . . . and they charge you a lot more to sell something along with the beloved people at PayPal who'll stand "right behind you" should you encounter any issues . . . ha!
 
i agree with Dank.it seems that technically Bama's use of the word "like" is not used for spammimn at all.
 
I used to sell amazing amounts of merchandise on Ebay....AND I KEYWORD SPAMMED IN EVERY AD!!! if I was selling a shirt, then it was LIKE POLO, IZOD, etc......if I was selling a tv, then it had buttons exactly like a SONY or MITSUBISHI, etc..........man it works so good too!!!

I'm glad they are cleaning it up because I too hate getting 10,875 results for "2005 BMW M3" while I am looking for a car!
 
The bay is frustrating sometimes, but the rules are there for a reason. There's too much junk on there when you try to do a focused search. Now, if they could just draw and quarter all the scammers and phishers.

And I wish Sherbine's site got the traffic eBay did......
 
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