Midoco Art & Office Supplies review for Searchanise Search & Filter

Sept. 1, 2022

Previously, I would have given this app 3.5 to 4 stars. However, after putting in months of work installing and configuring it, Searchanise increased the price of our plan by 400%. That's right: 400%. The exorbitant and abrupt price change feels like a bait and switch. Searchanise only gave a week's notice of the price change. Changing search apps (or changing a theme to avoid the need for a search app) is not something that can be accomplished in a week or so. Accordingly, we felt like Searchanise was extorting us with the abrupt price change. They were essentially saying: "Pay 400% more or we'll break your webstore". Moreover, the app has significant problems with its search algorithm, which is the key feature we required from it. The Searchanise algorithm has difficulty identifying variations on the same word. For example, we sell pom poms as a craft item. But the app is not able to recognize variations on that term. If a customer searches for pompom, pom pom, pom-pom, pompoms or pom-poms, the app will not return search results that include items containing the term "pom poms". The app includes a synonym function that purports to allow you to manually define related terms to correct deficiencies in the algorithm. Manual programming should not be required for a search algorithm to treat such similar terms as synonyms. Moreover, the synonym function in the app does not work properly. We have tried at length to use the synonyms function to resolve problems with the app's search algorithm, but the synonym function produces undesirable, inconsistent and unpredictable results. It changes the order and contents of search results in really unpredictable ways. We have read all the literature that Searchanise has provided on the synonym function, so we are aware of all the guidance on its use. Despite this, we have largely had to discontinue using it because it produces such inconsistent and unpredictable results. We have had to resort to using tags and revising our product descriptions to try to capture common variations on search terms to make up for shortcomings in the app's algorithm. That is very time consuming and should not be required. The fact that the app has difficulty recognizing the singular and plural form of words as synonyms is particularly problematic (eg. pompom and pompoms). So, before considering using this app, beware of its functionality shortcomings and the risk of exorbitant price increases instituted on short notice after you have spent days, months or years trying to configure the app.