eBay fixes index glitch

23 Sep 2008

A technical problem that left an undisclosed number of products out of the search engine index on eBay Inc.'s Web site has now been fixed, according to the e-commerce company, which said it plans to issue credits to affected merchants.

The indexing snafu started last Wednesday morning, but eBay didn't acknowledge it until late Friday. The company then declared the problem solved at about 3 a.m. EDT today. It advised sellers not to relist affected items but instead to create new listings for those goods.

On its official Systems Announcements page, eBay said it would issue the promised credits this week. "Please be assured it is not necessary to contact us; we will be issuing these credits automatically," the company added.

EBay didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the number of products and merchants that were affected by the problem.

The company has been testing what it calls a "new search experience" in recent months, in an effort to make it easier for buyers to find products on the eBay site. Two weeks ago, it announced plans to start directing more traffic to the revamped search engine.

But some sellers have been complaining about the new software in messages posted on an official eBay discussion forum devoted to search-related issues.

By Juan Carlos Perez

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