Kobo Store: Searching, browsing and discovering - observations & suggestions.

Benjamin Buford · 07-12-2011, 04:54 AM

I think the Kobo Store is great if you know exactly what you are looking for: You enter the Author / Title / ISBN / ... and you can buy that publication.

If I want to discover new books/authors, I have to resort to Amazon. That's just one aspect, and I find this is pretty hard to put into words. So maybe anyone who thinks that the store experience could be improved please help me to put that into words and into more specific suggestions.

The first suggestion I have is concerning the search: It really should be a bit stricter in terms of what is displays as search results.

Example 1: A search for the author named "Bronson Lemer". 341 results although there is only one single book published by this author. Should be 1 "good" result with maybe 10 remotely close matches, separated by a line or space.

Example 2: A search for the author named "Steven Zeeland". He has published several books, but none have been published as electronic books so far. This search yields 4155 results (apparently anything containing the term "Steven"), although there should really be 0 results.

Benjamin Buford · 07-12-2011, 05:00 AM

Another thing is the category "Free Books". It is perfectly understandable that this category probably isn't very high priority as it does not generate revenue (at least not directly), but when I click on it, all I receive is an endless string of books, hundreds of them in a row, umpteen pages

And thats it

I feel like this should be different.

PeterT · 07-12-2011, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin Buford

Example 1: A search for the author named "Bronson Lemer". 341 results although there is only one single book published by this author. Should be 1 "good" result with maybe 10 remotely close matches, separated by a line or space.

I pout her name in surroudned by quotes. Got a single hit! The Last Deployment

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benjamin Buford

Example 2: A search for the author named "Steven Zeeland". He has published several books, but none have been published as electronic books so far. This search yields 4155 results (apparently anything containing the term "Steven"), although there should really be 0 results.

Again, searching for "Steven Zeeland" (in quotes) no hits!

46jimbo · 07-12-2011, 08:52 AM

Yes, it's the same as searching on Google. Put quotation marks around the author's name and it will only search for that 2 word combo.

Benjamin Buford · 07-12-2011, 02:12 PM

oh, thanks

I use the quotes on Google every day, but somehow that didn't cross my mind

Well ok, that does indeed produce search results to my taste.

But you run into trouble with quotes if there is an initial from a middle name, or some different spelling like Leo Tolstoi / Lew Tolstoy / Lyof N. Tolstoi, or if first/last name are in reverse order like Tolstoy, Lew (which I have yet to see on the Kobo store, but nevertheless).

digiSara · 07-12-2011, 06:40 PM

What I find annoying is if you start typing an author's name, it pops up suggestions as you type, so you click on the suggestion - and you get 100's of hits (some very unrelated) - their suggestions really should be treated the same as the name in quotes.

07-12-2011, 04:54 AM	#1
Benjamin Buford Nameless Being	Kobo Store: Searching, browsing and discovering - observations & suggestions. I think the Kobo Store is great if you know exactly what you are looking for: You enter the Author / Title / ISBN / ... and you can buy that publication. If I want to discover new books/authors, I have to resort to Amazon. That's just one aspect, and I find this is pretty hard to put into words. So maybe anyone who thinks that the store experience could be improved please help me to put that into words and into more specific suggestions. The first suggestion I have is concerning the search: It really should be a bit stricter in terms of what is displays as search results. Example 1: A search for the author named "Bronson Lemer". 341 results although there is only one single book published by this author. Should be 1 "good" result with maybe 10 remotely close matches, separated by a line or space. Example 2: A search for the author named "Steven Zeeland". He has published several books, but none have been published as electronic books so far. This search yields 4155 results (apparently anything containing the term "Steven"), although there should really be 0 results. Last edited by Benjamin Buford; 07-12-2011 at 02:18 PM.

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07-12-2011, 05:00 AM	#2
Benjamin Buford Nameless Being	Another thing is the category "Free Books". It is perfectly understandable that this category probably isn't very high priority as it does not generate revenue (at least not directly), but when I click on it, all I receive is an endless string of books, hundreds of them in a row, umpteen pages And thats it I feel like this should be different.

07-12-2011, 08:52 AM	#4
46jimbo Zealot Posts: 130 Karma: 143194 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Toronto, CANADA Device: Kobo Touch + Kobo Aura	Yes, it's the same as searching on Google. Put quotation marks around the author's name and it will only search for that 2 word combo.

07-12-2011, 02:12 PM	#5
Benjamin Buford Nameless Being	oh, thanks I use the quotes on Google every day, but somehow that didn't cross my mind Well ok, that does indeed produce search results to my taste. But you run into trouble with quotes if there is an initial from a middle name, or some different spelling like Leo Tolstoi / Lew Tolstoy / Lyof N. Tolstoi, or if first/last name are in reverse order like Tolstoy, Lew (which I have yet to see on the Kobo store, but nevertheless).

07-12-2011, 06:40 PM	#6
digiSara Groupie Posts: 158 Karma: 153344 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Kobo wifi	What I find annoying is if you start typing an author's name, it pops up suggestions as you type, so you click on the suggestion - and you get 100's of hits (some very unrelated) - their suggestions really should be treated the same as the name in quotes.

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