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Google has changed its policies and now marketplaces will be uploading listings to Google Base, not individual sellers.
What does this mean for your Etsy listings?
Etsy doesn't know..but they're working on it! For awhile now...
If you planned on having your listings available to shoppers on Etsy via Google for the holidays, you may want to rethink that approach.
If Etsy had just sorted listing uploads out before, this wouldn't be an issue. You know, other sites already do that - for free.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Etsy and Google Base
Posted by The Righteous One at 9:40 PM
Tagged: etsy fail, google base
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27 Comments:
"all I want for Christmas is some Google Base, Google Base, Google Base..."
When Etsy was allegedly already uploading them to GB, I tested it out and couldn't find a simple product that should have been fed to GB. Same product listed on ArtFire and it was on the first page...
So Google won't let individuals upload their csv files anymore? It was too picky anyway IMHO, took a while to get the file just the way they wanted it, probably better if they work with the programmers of sites instead.
Never should have been dumped into the sellers' laps to begin with. Typical mentality.
HIRE NEW STAFF WHO ARE CONSCIENTIOUS. These buggers obviously have their heads up their trendy, pierced ASSES.
If Etsy can get it right, this is good news for me. No matter what I did I could never get my stuff uploaded, just couldn't figure it out, so I gave up trying.
Etsy get it right? You smoking this early in the morning? WHEN has Etsy ever gotten something right the first time? This is a huger thing than this seems. It means that Etsy items that ARE making it to google no longer will. Etsy will take months to work this out, they'll fumble it with some halfassed workup then it will take months of seller outrage before they fix it, maybe. Instead I expect sellers to be changing their items descriptions to go around the etsy's expected gaffs.
Actually what I expect to happen is they won't put in any protocol for the words that google won't allow and won't tell anyone that those items with them be loaded and for this to explode into a huge steaming pile. Of course that's AFTER Etsy fucks up and ends up banned from google for spamming with prohibited items.
Shall we take bets? fail followed with fail and fail and finsihed off with a nice case of no communication like a cherry on top.
lisajune
Etsy Admin
lisajune says:
Hey! Let's not get disillusioned quite yet, SEO is a definite priority for Etsy, and we're. I just talked to the some people more involved in the back-end operations of Etsy and we're definitely close to being able to roll out these changes.
As you know, we like to get things right before we put them live on the site, and we're still ironing our a few kinks. But you can expect to see the changes we announced 2 weeks ago in the Storque coming soon, if not immediately.
Thanks for your patience!
Posted at 2:00 pm, September 14 2009 EST - Report this post
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"Coming soon, if not immediately"
Typical Etsy-Speak
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6282925
unpleasant for WHOM? Everyone in that thread seemed to be pretty much in agreement, but I guess the Moderator didn't 'get' the sarcasm.
SanDesign
Yep, locking that thread was pure BS!
No answers to anything from anyone.
Typical, and I'm damn well tired of it.
Etsy loves secrets, and this is the biggest package under the Etsy Branded Tree. Try to get a straight answer or explanation from Etsy, really, try it.
You can send lots of emails to support@ and each one will have a different intern name with a jackass answer that includes lots of false information. (And tells you to call Google and work it out yourself!) Try it, see what happens!
Or, write a snail mail to the CEO and maybe get a response from her ASSISTANT that doesn't even address your issue in 4 or 5 weeks.
This is a site making millions of dollars that STILL HAS NO CUSTOMER SERVICE FUNCTION to address important seller questions.
What is support@ but the lowliest task assigned to the new employees and interns who know jack shit. Try it, it's a hoot!
The forums only underline the incompetence with a woohoo we're Etsy, we're too cool to answer seller questions, we're too busy picking our fave stores for those hundreds and hundreds of free Etsy promotions all over the site!
Have time for SEO changes? This is a company with a whole lot of overhead (####employees) that does a lot of manual labor ---- so the SEO is like the rest of Etsy - an afterthought. Locked away with the rest of the secrets.
And like I always say, do a search for your Etsy store and see what REALLY happened to it 6 months ago. You may have disappeared with many other stores that vanished off the face of cyberspace when Etsy screwed up and decided they would only "correct" their SEO mistakes with stores they like to promote.
The rest of us can go jump in the same lake we fell into starting January '09.
Make what Etsy likes to promote, get yourself on their faves list, otherwise, save yourself some time and set up at another location.
Sadly, it's not just google base. It's google in general that has gone the way side for most of us. Those that use to come up in the first page of search using our tags, are now either no where to be found or lumped under the ETSY category and need to be searched again within that amazing piece of technology.
I did a google image search for my product and when I clicked on the image it took me to the Etsy site saying this is not available. Thanks Etsyl
when i search for a person's etsy store on google, it generally shows up first.
Im not well up on this SEO stuff, so even more confused now.
What exactly has changed with the SEO?
(sorry to be so lame!)
Yeah, big whoop. Artfire always had it-if you have nothing better to do than obsess about GA and statistics that don't tell you what is really important-how to get Etsy to promote the site-you are truly pathetic...I never have seen any point to it-who cares how many times someone viewed your shop-really? It's like the views and hearts now-all it really tells you is how many peoplehave seen, but don't want to buy, your stuff...but then, we who are not supply sellers or soapmakers already know the answer to that...but i guess from Etsy's point of view, it's a good distraction from the real issues.
mizdarlin, this isn't about Google Analytics - this is about Google base, where the products appear in a shopping search engine!
This also isn't about SEO, because the products have to be uploaded, they're not spidered like the pages are for general search.
This is a completely different issue, and just one more failure on Etsy's part that will affect, and has affected, sellers negatively
You know, it took me like 5 tries over 2 days to figure out how to upload my stuff the google base.
I'm not sure it's been hella useful or anything if I look at the stats GB provides... but I was always happy to at the very least be able to FIND my products when searching under "shopping" on google.
They're (etsy) going to fuck that up now, aren't they.
I mean, yeah, it would be great if the site took care of this stuff like ebay does... but if etsy does it, then the only thing that's going to be in any shopping search is a $70.00 cat perch or a fucking Lirola ruffle blouse that looks like it stepped straight out of 1982.
Why must they take things I became perfectly happy with and discover means by which to fuck them up.
We're getting close to the holiday season again, aren't we? Hence another Etsy 'we know, and we are working on it' fiasco. Of course they will not even attempt to solve any problems until after the new year, isn't that the Etsy holiday tradition?
Oh, and.. "As you know, we like to get things right before we put them live on the site," made me spit up my tea... Since WHEN, Etsy?
Winkelf has been submitting our stuff to google base for months now. They also automatically tweet all items that have been auto renewed. For such a small site, they seem to be light years ahead of everyone else with this stuff.
Somewhat OT but...
I know that the same damn sellers are always on the Etsy front page.
I've complained in the fora that the same damn sellers are always on the Etsy front page.
I've complained here that the same damn sellers are always on the Etsy front page.
So why does it still piss me off when the same damn sellers are once again on the Etsy front page?
I should be used to it by now.
RRobin-
Injustice NEVER feels fair.
Etsy never learns.
It will never change.
I think it's pure laziness, kickbacks? certainly favoritism.
Etsy's going to get the Google Base uploads right the first time!
Ha ha. Yeah, and um... enough said.
Rrobin, I've done some counting and the people on the FP the most have been there over a hundred times this year. It's just insane how blatant it is.
Good! People have been finding me on my own website again. A site I've had for years now.
PS. where have you bitches been? I almost thought that the war was lost there for a while.
Yup, I have my own website and I control it. I know I get views directly from there because AF tells me-- and from twitpics. If I didn't do it all myself, nobody would ever find me on Etsy.
I do wish I could dump Etsy for good and all, but there are those return customers who need to know where I am.
I often feel that the employees just do not care if anyone sells shit, as long as they sign up more sellers and make the numbers look good for their absentee bosses.
ANY SELLERS: Like that Chanel purse knockoff with tags that has been there forever (HA! THAT'S WHERE THEY PUT THE JUNKIES WHO NEED A SIESTA-- on the flagging "team")
Admin -picked fps come directly from the Gift Guides.
Etsy uses the GG when they "browse" and no matter which anonymous admin is picking the fp- it's straight from their "Favorites": the Gift Guides.
And if they can organizes their favorites, why can't we?
sillygirl, the war isn't lost until the white flag flies. Strategic planning takes some time behind the scenes ;) plus, how often can we complain about the same things? After awhile bashing our heads against the wall feels better.
Artfire has had feed to Google all along and those items get seen. Now they are going to offer a deal for Oct. Free unlimited listings for Basic accounts. Fixed SEO doesn't matter if no one sees it.
Off topic, i know, but i would just like to add something in response to how many people are scared to leave etsy due to the fear of losing return customers -
I left quite some time ago to run my own store, and my regulars did find me, slowly but surely. It was not hard work, and once i had done it, i felt that a tremendous burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I expected a sales slump to begin with, whilst my new site was collecting views and so on, but my regular networking tactics (that i had used whilst still selling on etsy) brought my customers to me quite quickly, and the expected slump did not actually occur, thankfully!
So, for those who fear taking the plunge, please bear this in mind.
i did very well at etsy, but i can happily report that my views are higher since i left. It may sound odd, but it is true.
Good luck to anyone who is considering the move.
It is not as traumatic as you may think. Dont fall prey to feeling like to need etsy to survive, your customers will find you. And your sellers/transaction fees will soon become nothing more than a bad memory.
Over and out.
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