What constitutes keyword spamming?

[threadbender]

I am curious as to what people's opinions are on this topic. Is it simply using a brand name in a title that is not appropriate to the listed item? Is it indicating a metal in a title while in the description it states plate? A color? Or, an indicator of quality that may or may not be true?
I see different catch phrases and words in titles.Some of them may be a little misleading but not really deceptive. Others are outright lies. And, some are very literal.
Are people deceived by the keyword spamming? I am careful when I read auctions, but I do sometimes catch something after reading a 2nd or 3rd time. lol
Would like to hear what you think is OK or not.

 

[jellyv]

I've always thought it was intentionally driving traffic to your listing by falsely including words that do not actually describe your product but that appeal to a broad viewership who might search related terms. So, for example, titling a listing as "Designer Vuitton Gucci France Sunglasses" but the product is just "designer sunglasses" and not by those designers and not made in France. In that case, "Vuitton," "Gucci," and "France" would be keywords being spammed. So, whatever is a false "promise" of the item so that searches will include the listing.

 

[threadbender]

I agree. I also think when someone puts 14K necklace or whatever and then it is gp in the description. I was wondering if there are other terms that bring in views. Then, I realized some I see and had kind of thought of as misleading, probably wouldn't be used when searching anyway. lol
Most folks who use more than a basic search are being pretty specific and won't be looking for generic terms. So, words like couture (unless for JC maybe), designer, even Goth and so on, are likely to be paired with others when you search.
Using brand names and misleading title about jewelry (14k, gold, silver, turquoise, diamond etc when they aren't), materials would be considered KS, whereas terms relating to quality might be more subjective.
I do need to be careful when reading the descriptions and I take responsibility for that. Thankfully, I have not bought something that was incorrectly described.

 

[Jira]

I think keyword spamming in general is using words (can be brand names or other keywords like dress, hat, scarf, sunglasses) un-related to the actual item for sale in order to make the item turn up in more search results.

I've reported listings that sell no-name items, but have brand names like Balenciaga, Prada, etc. in the listing title.

 

[MrsBradley]

The use of brand name in the title is what truly gets me mad. Most of the times when you search Prada for example you get tons of “Prada look”, or “Prada dust bag” or it just sits there with no relation to the listed item at all. Unless you are actually selling a Prada item, it is spamming to use it in the listing. It is easy to see past it but it wastes my precious time so I think there must a way to control that.

 

[threadbender]

I am very specific when I do a search and it is so irritating when items unrelated show up. But, nothing is really done about it, so....

 

[Phred]

Not sure what if you are referring to something specific?

I've seen a lot of overuse of the word 'designer'. "Designer purse", "Designer shoes", "Designer jewelry". If I can get it in a dollar store, it isn't 'designer'

 

[threadbender]

Oh, that is a good one. Yeah, what designer? My dog? The kid down the street, Rachel Zoe maybe Michael Korrs, or what knows
.

 

[bry_dee]

Well, there were people who list their items such as "NWT Blouse x H&M x Zara X Topshop" etc. and it annoys the hell out of me.

 

[SarahNicole1984]

I think keyword spamming in general is using words (can be brand names or other keywords like dress, hat, scarf, sunglasses) un-related to the actual item for sale in order to make the item turn up in more search results.

I've reported listings that sell no-name items, but have brand names like Balenciaga, Prada, etc. in the listing title.

Does Ebay do anything about it when you report them? It's definitely a pet-peeve of mine.

 

[Loren8443]

Does Ebay do anything about it when you report them? It's definitely a pet-peeve of mine.

I think they do take the listing down if it is reported. I was once watching a listing for a "Chanel Inspired Jacket" that was later taken down. A few hours later a new listing for the item was made titled "Tweed Jacket".

 

[Schientist]

I think it's mostly for unrelated terms.

The reason some sellers (including sometimes myself) include the word designer is that sometimes people actually search for it. When I had a store and could look up the keyword searches that people were using that got them to my items, I was really surprised at how often people searched for things like "designer purple purse"... I guess because they wanted a fancy purple purse but weren't picky about WHICH kind of fancy...

Brand names that don't apply are clearly spam. It's a softer line on some of the non-brand descriptors. For example, I may describe jewelry as "pewter tone" because it's not actually pewter, but is that same color; and as a buyer I'd be using pewter as a search term, not "dark grey jewelry," even if I don't mean actual pewter. And since they give me 80 characters to come up with a title, I usually try to cram as many descriptive words as possible in! Well, as many as make sense, anyway.