By now, there are literally hundreds of posts on a myriad of threads from confused, frustrated, desperate authors who have seen their earnings drop dramatically since the introduction of the new search engine.
I want to keep believing, but it’s getting to the point where believing is all we can do. Are changes still being made to improve the exposure of new items?
It’s been 2 months since I’ve uploaded anything, and I’m beginning to lose hope. Funny, because I had hoped to start investing some serious time into AJ; perhaps even full time. That’s not going to be a possibility if this keeps up.
An update from the staff / search team as to what’s going on is well overdue. It’s starting to look bleak.
In my opinion the search engine algorithm should be a mix from Title, Description and Keywords/tags. I didn’t understand how the search engine works on AudioJungle but I use the same “logic” I use on web for blogs and websites.
It is the same in codecanyon. Right after this update went live and sales have been horrible since. But this is everybody’s fault. You all lobbied for search improvements and now we have this disaster
So please stop asking for more changes and improvements, thanks
I don’t even know why they moved to USA, taxes are awful for autors in non-treaty countryes. Everything is falling apart. If you type audiojungle in google, you will get ads for others marketplaces in first results, come on…
There were a few replies. Envato can’t reply to every authors questions
One reply that is quite valuable:
Do not underestimate the necessity of testing on digital platforms, esp. search! There would be no benefits to the search engine if envato just goes back to the old engine without evaluating the pro and cons of the current one. Improvement is nothing that comes with single updates but it’s a process that requires time and a lot of research.
We’ve been stuck with an unfair and unbalanced search system for three months.
The change made to the algorithm back in December happened almost instantly, with a few hours of prior warning. It turned everything upside down.
Since then, very little has been said or done about the search engine.
All we ask for is some recognition of the current issue for exposure of new items, and action taken to resolve these issues. I don’t think this is an unreasonable request, especially since every author puts valuable time, effort and energy into making content for this marketplace.
For many of the most used search words it prioritizes old items with many sales over new items with little sales making it hard for new artists / items that were just posted to gain any reasonable publicity and sales.
IMO, no matter what they do people will complain. Change the system so it’s better for older items, newer authors might complain. Change the system so it’s better for newer items, older authors might complain. Change it so keywords carry more weight, people who have invested heavily in titles might complain. Some people’s sales drop, and yet fundamental mathematical principles dictate that other people’s sales surely go up, because that lost revenue is going somewhere. Best thing Envato can do for authors is pick a consistent system and stick with it. Yes, people will figure it out and exploit it over time, but that’s sort of how search engines work, whenever you change the formula you throw everything into chaos and get a lot of people complaining, and end up doing more damage than good to people who are already heavily invested in that system.
The revenue might be going somewhere, but not necessarily to this website. If someone can’t find what they’re looking for in the search engine they’ll go somewhere else.
That is without a doubt the number one thing Envato is measuring. ;)[quote=“Typps, post:7, topic:33774”]
You all lobbied for search improvements and now we have this disaster
So please stop asking for more changes and improvements, thanks
[/quote]
We always talked about the search engine specifically tailored for AJ. Why the changes were not limited to the audio marketplace only is beyond our current knowledge of the universe.
The point of this thread is to rally support in favor of the idea that Envato speak to us and let us know what’s going on.
If you think we deserve to know the thinking behind the disastrous (for many) search engine changes, then please, show your support.
If you want to (justifiably) complain about the search changes, there are plenty of other threads where you can do that.
And if you’re a “white knight” who feels compelled to “defend the honor” of Lady Envato, this isn’t the place for it. You’re just muddying the waters.
Many of us want Envato to address the issue, fully and honestly. If you think that we authors don’t deserve that consideration…well…that makes no sense.