I am experiencing an issue with Roblox catalog search results for a UGC emote in the Animation category that was created on December 24.
When searching the exact name of my emote while logged in, the item does not appear near the top of the results, even though the results are sorted by Relevance (the default filter). Instead, unrelated or loosely related items appear above it, and the emote only becomes visible after scrolling down.
There are currently two other emotes with the same name that appear near the top of the search results, even though my emote is outperforming both in sales and engagement.
When performing the same search while logged out, my emote appears at or near the top of the results as expected, and fewer suggested or unrelated items appear ahead of exact match results. In this logged out state, the emote can also be found easily without needing to manually switch to the Animation category.
This behavior also affects other logged-in users. I am receiving comments from users stating that some are unable to find the emote through search at all, while others can only locate it after scrolling, changing filters, or using a direct link.
The emote becomes easy to find when users manually change the filter to Best Selling, Most Favorited, or Recently Published. However, many users are unaware of these options. Because Relevance is the default search filter, this leads to reduced visibility and lost sales.
Steps to reproduce:
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Log into a Roblox account.
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Go to the Avatar Shop and select the Animation category.
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Search for the exact term: “Helios Rap Umamusume”.
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Leave the filter set to Relevance (default).
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Observe that unrelated items and lower-performing emotes appear above the exact-match item.
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Change the filter to Best Selling, Most Favorited, or Recently Published.
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Observe that the emote appears at or near the top. Log out and repeat the original search. Observe that the emote appears near the top when logged out.
Expected behavior
When a user searches an exact item name and uses the default Relevance filter, the exact-match item especially one that is top-selling, highly favorited, or recently published for that search term should appear at or near the top of the results for both logged in and logged out users.
Exact-match results with strong performance and recent activity should be prioritized near the top of the results when using the default Relevance filter.