We've been very busy in recent days updating the accuracy of our
search. We still have a bit more left to do, but as of now our search
is much more accurate than it previously was. The following may get a
little too technical for all but the most nerdy of you ;-) Please read
on if you're either a software developer, or just glutton for
punishment!
Previously,
our search was was very elementary in that it would take your search
terms and check the title then the description of each item for those
terms. Basically if you searched for
Dog Bowls we would search the title of the description for
Dog Bowls and then the description for
Dog Bowls. However, if the title contained the text
Dog Food Bowls
then that item wouldn't have been found. I know - pretty pathetic.
Also we weren't checking the actual category that the items belonged to
in the search. For instance a search for
Pet Accessories would not previously search the category
Accessories but instead would have searched for items that contain the words
Pet Accessories in their title or description. Further, the two words would have needed to be right next to each other.
Now
what we are doing is creating a hash table of keywords and cross
referencing those keywords to the corresponding items. Then we add in
a keyword that tells if the items is for cats or dogs, male or female,
and which category each item is under. This means that when you search
for
Dog Leads all leads for dogs will show up regardless of if the item actually says
Dog Leads anywhere in it's title or description.
Why not try a search for
Dog Carriers,
Cat Toys, or even
Nylon Dog Collars and see what you come up with today?
Also
please note that we are always interested in improving our site, so
please, if you ever do a search for something and can't find it but
later discover that we actually have it - please send us an email and
let us know!
Happy searching!