Etsy touted a “retrieval engine” called XWalk that improves search results, reminiscent of eBay’s Cassini search engine. In its 2nd-quarter earnings announcement, Etsy stated:
“We continued to improve our search capabilities by leveraging the engagement of buyers and sellers and the vast amount of data on our platform to create “XWalk,” a large-scale, real-time graph retrieval engine that provides more relevant search results and narrows the semantic gap- boosting conversion and repeat purchase rate for buyers.”
Etsy CEO Josh Silverman explained XWalk to Wall Street analysts during its earnings call on Wednesday (although it does not appear Etsy has briefed sellers whose items are impacted by the technology):
“For example, XWalk has significantly reduced the number of dead ends, which have queries that returned zero search results, unlocking over a million incremental searches that are delivering relevant search results. We’re only at the very beginning stages of leveraging XWalk, which has many other applications beyond search. For example, making recommendations more relevant, providing better on-site marketing experiences, and improving technologies that keep the marketplace safe.”
Etsy also announced in Wednesday’s earnings press release that it had made additional progress in the discovery experience by redesigning its home and landing pages using machine learning, personalization, and recommendations “in a way that made content more engaging and compelling to buyers.”
See the full transcript of Wednesday’s earnings call on Seeking Alpha, and you can find the press release and presentation on the Etsy Investor Relations section of its website. You can also find what Etsy’s CEO had to say about the new Star Seller program on the AuctionBytes Blog.
Let us know what you think of Etsy’s new search engine.
Xwalk, Leveraging, Team work……
Boy, these no talents come out of the wood work to sap OUR money supply.
Home sweet Home…page….on MY OWN Website.
Where these Etsy / Ebay bastards don’t fit, don’t belong, aren’t tolerated.
Make ’em STARVE !
Ooooo, is this smart technology responsible for bombing my front page and suggested items with boobies, hoohas, wienerschnitzels and a butt hole photo in July? And other things I’ve never searched for like bamboo macramé toothbrush holders, mass produced IPhone cases, and onsies stamped with infringing Disney princesses for my invisible child? Way to go, Etsy! They know what items I search and buy, so they refuse to show me those. I search for a green kitchen tablecloth and the AI says ‘no, you really want an anus pic; let us get that for you. Would you like some hot pink pleather ankle restraints, too?’.