Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 438 posts

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#121

Post by subhro »

tracer4201 wrote: post #76
learc83 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No analogy is perfect. Amazon obviously isn't a mall, but it's not a grocery store either. A grocery store owns the goods in their possession even if they have agreements for sellers to buy some unsold product back. Amazon does not own the 3rd party goods in their possession.

You’re dismissing the mall call by saying no analogy is perfect since it doesn’t work for your argument but then you’re comparing against grocery stores, which is a pretty gross simplification. Amazon isn’t a grocery store. The majority of their catalog isn’t even available at most grocery stores, maybe excluding WalMart. My family owned several convenience stores growing up. Some products were bought and it was your…

Really curious. How are the other guys selling for $0.99, if they didn’t get the competitive pricing? (Presumably because they didn’t go through the sign within X feet antics)

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#123

Post by ikeboy »

toasterlovin wrote: post #120
ikeboy wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They recalled a quarter million power banks because they were catching fire. Everybody uses the same factories and Amazon doesn't have better quality control than anyone else.

Amazon almost certainly has better quality control that most of the sellers on their platform. The vast majority of their sellers are extremely low effort, one or two person companies who take advantage of how easy it is to source and ship goods in the modern age.

If you weight all sellers equally, sure. If you weight by sales volume, I suspect they'd come out behind.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#124

Post by toasterlovin »

mattmcknight wrote: post #98
Pxtl wrote: post #34

Considering how shopping at Amazon now feels like shopping at an electronics bazaar in Singapore with giant bins of random knock-off products of suspicious quality, tweaking the algo to push name-brand options (even if it's their own name-brand) would be a welcome move to me as a buyer. Obviously it's grossly unfair to their vendors, but from a strictly user-centric view it's an improvement. Otherwise, Amazon feels l…

I'm done with buying stuff from third party sellers on Amazon. If the seller is not amazon.com, I am not buying from Amazon. Fulfilled by Amazon is not good enough. Unfortunately, the only way to get a seller option is to pick an item department. I wonder why they would bury such a useful feature. It should be a box you can tick for the whole site.

Some advice (from a company that sells our own products on Amazon): buy only from Amazon or the manufacturer. When buying from the manufacturer, look at the 1 and 2 star ratings. They will be the best barometer of product quality.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#125

Post by snarf21 »

Pxtl wrote: post #34

Considering how shopping at Amazon now feels like shopping at an electronics bazaar in Singapore with giant bins of random knock-off products of suspicious quality, tweaking the algo to push name-brand options (even if it's their own name-brand) would be a welcome move to me as a buyer. Obviously it's grossly unfair to their vendors, but from a strictly user-centric view it's an improvement. Otherwise, Amazon feels l…

I think the big changed needed on Amazon is the "Seller". With their commingling of all products with the same SKU, "seller" is an irrelevant term. If people could review actual sellers, it could put a dent in the knock-offs. I'm not sure if there are just enough people who can't tell the difference or don't want the trouble of returning it to make this a profitable strategy for everyone.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#126

Post by calimac »

Certhas wrote: post #88
Pxtl wrote: post #34

Considering how shopping at Amazon now feels like shopping at an electronics bazaar in Singapore with giant bins of random knock-off products of suspicious quality, tweaking the algo to push name-brand options (even if it's their own name-brand) would be a welcome move to me as a buyer. Obviously it's grossly unfair to their vendors, but from a strictly user-centric view it's an improvement. Otherwise, Amazon feels l…

Still, they are the monopoly marketplace online. They should be doing _everything_ to avoid looking like they are abusing their monopoly position to muscle into other fields. The fact that they don't seem too bothered just seems to indicate to me that regulators are not prepared to act on them. Really the rule should simply be that if you operate a market place you can't sell on it. Full stop. Then we could simply be…

Exactly, great point. All other arguments are moot. They have a monopoly. This is an example of abuse of power. The argument that they do it in the name of user experience is an example of the double speak of SV giants. This will not hold up under justice department scrutiny. I hope the tech giants are "brought to heel" as HRC would say.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#127

Post by ceejayoz »

VRay wrote: post #112
ikeboy wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally I've spoken to people who compete with Amazon private label in electronics and they tell me Amazon doesn't care about quality, and that the factories they were buying from were known to be lower quality. I've also heard the opposite about Anker - that they always get the best quality.

AmazonBasics isn't any more trustworthy than any of the junk you find on AliExpress or at Wal-Mart/Target/Best Buy. (Except that it has a good return policy backing it, I think)

Amazon is at least liable (theoretically, at least) if they sell an AmazonBasics product that winds up giving my kids lead poisoning, and will have a lot harder time disappearing into the wind to avoid a lawsuit. They disclaim any liability for third-party sellers.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#128

Post by chenster »

helpPeople wrote: post #48
Pxtl wrote: post #34

Considering how shopping at Amazon now feels like shopping at an electronics bazaar in Singapore with giant bins of random knock-off products of suspicious quality, tweaking the algo to push name-brand options (even if it's their own name-brand) would be a welcome move to me as a buyer. Obviously it's grossly unfair to their vendors, but from a strictly user-centric view it's an improvement. Otherwise, Amazon feels l…

I've seen Amazon prices go up while Walmart Online has been cheaper for household items. On speciality electronics, I don't think anyone would be surprised to know Amazon is more expensive. It's an ancedote sure, but back in 2012, we shopped only at Amazon. Now they are no longer King.

With Amazon, you sit your butts at home and get what you want without getting stuck in traffic and waiting in line to check out in-store just to get a $20 keyboard.

Nevertheless, it remains questionable how this change would be a fair competition for Amazon sellers, not just the Alibaba private label sellers but also all the sellers with popular products.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#129

Post by scarface74 »

Without getting into whether what Amazon is doing is right or wrong, as a vendor, you have to accept reality for what it is and come up with a business plan that gives you an “unfair advantage”.

Selling physical goods is a three part process - manufacturing, marketing, and selling. At each part of the process, you have to know what helps you stand out.

Manufacturing - is there something that enables you to manufacturer a product that can’t easily be copied or that allows you to create the product cheaper than competitors?

Marketing - are you depending on SEO and Google ads just like all of your competitors?

Selling - Are you depending on Amazon just like all of your competitors?

You have to be able to optimize on at least one of those areas or you’re going to find yourself competing on price at either slim, no or negative margins or being lost in a marketplace where everyone is doing the same thing.

Re: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products

#130

Post by _coveredInBees »

josefresco wrote: post #51

Side rant: Where is my Amazon branded phone case?!? This weekend I placed a half dozen searches for "iphone 11 case" and was only presented with super shady, low quality vendors. Floveme? Tendam? Donse? Spigen? and my favorite: Vapesoon. Is it just too early for the legit brands to have a case ready? Or am I doing it wrong?

I sympathize with your rant but wanted to point out that Spigen is in fact a pretty well known and recommended brand for phone cases. I suspect part of the reason for this is that a lot of Chinese manufacturers are able to get their hands on leaked prototypes / information regarding new iPhone models due to them being manufactured in China. This gives them a valuable headstart in getting phone cases to market so they can maximize sales in the first few weeks while a lot of the more reputable companies are busy building out their cases.
Post reply on HN