Various news reports like this one in the Wall Street Journal said that eBay suffered a "search glitch" over the weekend. Apparently, a problem Saturday morning meant that users couldn't search out products on US and on some international web sites. The problem was fixed by Sunday morning.
The WSJ quoted an eBay spokesperson as saying that the problem "resulted from a surge in live listings as sellers ramp up for the holiday season."
eBay said that it has more than 200 million listings, some 33% greater than last year at this time.
The company also said it plans to compensate sellers for the problem.
Robert N. Charette is a Contributing Editor to IEEE Spectrum and an acknowledged international authority on information technology and systems risk management. A self-described “risk ecologist,” he is interested in the intersections of business, political, technological, and societal risks. Charette is an award-winning author of multiple books and numerous articles on the subjects of risk management, project and program management, innovation, and entrepreneurship. A Life Senior Member of the IEEE, Charette was a recipient of the IEEE Computer Society’s Golden Core Award in 2008.