Getting a facelift

After making big (and mostly unpopular) changes to its fee structure, eBay has spent the past 18 months improving its back end. Its unpredictable search feature was of especial concern.

When a user queries "iPod," for example, 10,000 results pop up. But most of the results are iPod accessories, not actual iPods.

The company hopes to significantly improve search relevance. Additionally, sellers with higher customer ratings will get better search exposure.