Search is Profoundly Broken

[browersr]

I noticed my profile views plummeted after the last "upgrade". I have had long success on this platform and I understand how rotation works and the fair reasons to make sure everyone has a shot. All that is great. However, after quite a long time of terrible view stats I decided to see what it looked like from a client search perspective. I typed in a very simply "ios developer" and set it to freelancer only and 90% and up rating (also US only by default). I quit looking for myself after 25 pages which is of course at least 20+ more than a customer would scroll through. Yet, was I looking at pages and pages of iOS developers? No. Of course there were iOS developers but the sheer number of freelancers shown that were editors, wordpress developers, web developers, SEO, content marketers, etc. was mind boggling. A truly egregious number of freelancers who have absolutely nothing to do with iOS development clogging up search. I doubt this is only in my area. 

At the end of the day, despite all of the time and money put into branding, color schemes, supposed upgrades, marketing campaigns, etc., this is a site about connecting clients with a need with relevant freelancers to fulfill that need. At its core it's that simple. So please, before we get another font or color choice or marketing video extolling the "global workplace" can we improve the most basic function this site is here to serve? You guys are just leaving money on the table by not spending the time and resources on the things that matter the most. 

[a_lipsey]

Scott, I agree. My views have been in the single digits since whatever they did, where they used to be aroudn 30-50 a week. They have just plummeted since the "upgrade". Fortunately it hasn't seemed to mean much in terms of my invites or work. But it does make me question how it may be impacting my ability to connect with potential clients. 

[resultsassoc]

I strongly disagree that it is profoundly broken. A talent specialist whom I asked for help had no difficulty in finding a flower arranger to satisfy my need for a packaging engineer. And, a paving engineer in South Asia had no difficulty finding my job post for a developmental editor specializing in fiction. It's working perfectly fine.

[coachcohen]

I am having the same issue with very few profile views per week; in some cases, it's been in the single digits as of late. I have been on the platform since 2015 and do not recall ever having such low views. I expect that Upwork is making a shift into Project Catalog and other ways of connecting clients with freelancers. As this shift continues, do you think it's possible that the standard search mechanism will become increasingly less important? As freelancers, we also need to adapt and evolve to stay relevant on the platoform, but I think another issue is that an influx of new freelancers joined over the last year+ and the JSS system changes have led to less differentiation between new and existing talent.