Synonyms

Synonyms help improve search results by accounting for different terms that describe the same or similar products. Since product data consistently use specific terms, synonyms must be created to ensure alternative terms lead to relevant search results.

For example, “Hiking pants” and “Trekking pants” both refer to the same type of pants, but if only one term is present in the product data, searches using the other term would yield no results.

Default Ranking Adjustment (Penalty)

By default, synonyms receive a Penalty of 2 points. This ensures that while synonyms are useful, exact matches are prioritized, as there may be subtle differences in meaning for users.

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Monodirectional Synonyms

• When Term A is searched, results for Term B are also shown.

• However, searching for Term B does not return results for Term A.

  This setting cannot be changed later once created.

  Configuration

  1. The input form allows linking two search terms. The “Search Term” field contains the main term. The “Synonym” field contains the linked term.
  2. Define a Penalty value for the synonym ranking penalty. Default Penalty: 2.0

  Example

  Search Term	Synonym
  Ski Suit	Snow Suit

  • A user searching for “Boots” may also be interested in “Ankle boots”.
  • However, someone specifically searching for “Ankle boots” does not necessarily want to see “Boots”.

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  Bidirectional Synonyms

  • When Term A is searched, results for Term B are also shown and vice versa.
  • Multiple terms can be linked together in a mutual synonym group.
  • This setting cannot be changed later once created.

  Note

  If a term appears in multiple synonym groups (e.g., “fair – bright – light” and “light – LED – lamp”), only one group will be applied for that term. This means “light” will only resolve to one of the two groups, while “LED” and “lamp” would still work within their own group.

Configuration

1. The input form allows linking two or more search terms.
2. Define a Penalty value for the entire group. Default Penalty: 2.0

Example

Synonyms
Couch ↔ Sofa
Dirndl ↔ Country house dress ↔ Traditional costume ↔ Traditional dress

• A search for “Couch” will also return “Sofa”, and vice versa.
• A search for “Dirndl” will also return “Country house dress”, “Traditional costume”, and “Traditional dress”, making it easier to find traditional dresses.

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Antonyms (Exclusions)

• Antonyms are the opposite of synonyms.
• They are used in search logic to prevent incorrect product matches caused by autocorrect or word similarities in the WordList.
• This is achieved by assigning a very high penalty (e.g., 80).

How It Works

1. A synonym is created between two terms.
2. A Penalty value of 80 is applied. This does not prevent the term from being found but drops its score low enough (max. 20 points) that it’s excluded by the CutOff threshold (minimum 55 points).

Example of Excluded Terms (Antonyms)

Term	Excluded Term (Antonym)
Jacket	Socket
Notebook	Cookbook
Watch	Clock
Glasses	Jars
Printer	Painter

• This prevents searches for “Jacket” from returning “Socket”, which is a completely different word.
• Similarly, it prevents “Printer” from matching with “Painter”.