Here's an improvement to the buyer experience users may actually get enthused about - the Snapshot view. eBay has referred to it as Window Shopping, and you might not be impressed until you try it yourself. It's not available yet on the main eBay platform, but you can visit "the Playground," which offers the same listings as eBay.com and is a testing ground for its soon-to-be-released search technology, called Finding 2.0.

Go to the Playground (http://playground.ebay.com) and enter a search. When the search results come back, click on "Snapshot View" (found to the immediate left of the "Sort by" drop-down menu at the top of the results). That will take the search results and display them as a grid of thumbnail photos. Hover your mouse over a photo, and you'll see a box come up containing a larger photo and key information about the listing: the title; the current price; the Buy It Now price; time left; and a link to "watch this item."

Try a search for a "practical" item, like orange Nike sneakers. Then try a search for something collectible like "McCoy vase." For collectors who may not have a particular item in mind, the Snapshot view can help them quickly scan results and hone in on items they are interested in.

It's likely that most people will want the current view to remain the default so they can see pricing and time-ending information along with thumbnail photos. But as an option, Snapshot view certainly has something to offer in categories like clothing and collectibles, though it is perhaps less useful for searches of a particular item like a book or DVD title.

The Snapshot view concept is similar to TimeBlaster's photo albums - which AuctionBytes wrote about in 2001. TimeBlaster was created by search expert Steve Taylor, an avid stamp collector, who was looking for a way to wade through auctions on eBay more quickly to "get to the good stuff." TimeBlaster also did more sophisticated searches and actually delivers results to users' desktops. (The tool is still available for an annual subscription of $39.95 at http://www.timeblaster.com.)

When you are finished "playing," don't forget to leave eBay's Playground and return to the main site. At the very top of the Playground page (above the eBay logo), there is some fine print, one option is to "Go to the regular eBay site," and that will take you out of the Playground.

eBay has yet to roll out Snapshot view on its main platform - it's expected to launch in October. However, they do have a link at the top of search results pages on eBay.com that says "Go window shopping on eBay. Try Snapshot View in our playground." Be aware that if you click that link, you are taken to the Playground, so don't forget to return to the main site when you are finished playing. Thanks to computer "cookies," it will take you back to Playground mode the next time you visit eBay if you don't change back to the main site manually. Here is more information about the Playground if you hadn't heard of it before (http://pages.ebay.com/playground/FAQs).

eBay is testing its new search technology on the Playground that borrows from eBay Express technology. There has been some concern among users that it may actually do a worse job at bringing back relevant items than the current search technology. eBay is looking for feedback, and you can read what others think on the eBay discussion board (http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?threadID=2000406482).

eBay has been introducing many changes this year in a concerted effort to improve the buyer experience. You can see some of them at http://www.ebay.com/sneakpeek. It appears eBay has plans to roll out many new features in the coming months, despite sellers' concerns over possible resulting glitches during the critical holiday shopping season.

I'm wondering what readers think of Snapshot view, and of eBay's plans to roll out changes during the holiday shopping season. Has the buyer experience improved? Leave a comment on the AuctionBytes blog:

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