After a few weeks offline, eBay's "Playground" for previewing new search technology is back online. The Playground is a live laboratory and is part of eBay's Finding 2.0 initiative designed to it easier for shoppers to find what they want. During May and June, eBay plans to release additional new features to the Playground, and will add an opt-in ability that allows members to make the new experience their default Finding experience. eBay also plans to add a new way to navigate and refine search queries.

eBay Senior Director of Finding Jeff King said eBay has already made many changes to the Playground based on suggestions from buyers and sellers who had tested it, including improved navigation and return of the Snapshot View option for visual browsing.

King said the Playground's navigation is driven more heavily by seller-specified item specifics and is more consistent with the classic category structure. Shoppers can also add a "Watch this item" link by using the "Customize your results" feature, allowing them to see which items they are already watching directly on the search results page.

The Playground gives users access to all the same listings found on eBay.com so they can compare Playground search results with existing search technology. eBay introduced the Playground to users last year (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m06/i26/s02).

http://www2.ebay.com/aw/core/200805121017162.html