The English auction is different from other auction systems in its most essential feature: the public bidding process can transmit information to bidders in real-time because it can potentially realize the sharing of private information.
In contrast, a Dutch auction would adjust the price in a direction that favored the bidders (lowering the price if the item is being sold to competing buyers, increasing it, if it is a reverse auction).
Such signals can include tugging an ear or raising a bidding paddle.
In France, when the last bid has been made in an auction for an art object, a representative of the state can say "Préemption de l'état" ("Pre-emption of the state") and buy the object for the highest bid.
This was intended to ensure that no one could know exactly when the auction would end and make a last-second bid.
However, in real-life English auctions, jump bidding is often observed: buyers increase the displayed price much more than the minimal allowed increment.