Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products • Hacker News Board

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

#351

Post by 12345abcde » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 11:46 PM UTC

You don't have to be an rocket surgeon to see that amazon search sucks. I wouldn't even call amazon search "Search".

If I have one file on my computer named "Amazon Search Sucks ASS.txt" and I search for it by name, in quotes, I expect to see only one result.

A similar search on amazon will return a bunch of results many of them have nothing to do with the words I typed, not in the title, description, etc.

DON'T GET ME STARTED ON SORTING BASED ON PRICE!!! The number of search results should not change based on how you sort the result list!!!

Bezoz should just stick to sexting...

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

#352

Post by TheSpiceIsLife » Mon, Sep 16, 2019, 11:57 PM UTC

wmeredith wrote: post #290

bearcobra wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really enjoy the LockpickingLawyer's videos, but I'd imagine that the threat model of the average Amazon (or Walmart/Home Depot/etc.) buyer is such that any basic lock is enough deterrence for 95%+ of scenarios. It could just be that their evaluation criteria don't match his.

You are correct. Locks keep honest people honest.

I don't think that statement makes any sense. Why do honest people need anything to keep them honest?

Probably something more like: locks marginally aid in diverting lazy / opportunistic thieves.

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

#353

Post by cthalupa » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:03 AM UTC

zip1234 wrote: post #168

jastanton wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one difference is that the Amazon Basics products seem to have a quality bar higher than the other random re-labeled products.

Clearly anecdotal, but I bought Amazon Basics USB cables that were absolute garbage.

They're the only brand of USB-C cable I'm willing to buy right now for my MBP chargers. The Apple branded ones all heat up too much and do the yellow discolorment thing, the Anker branded ones didn't hold up for more than a couple of weeks, and I had bad luck with some of the random brands I found, too.

My only complaint is I charge at 65W instead of 87, but it seems to only be slightly slower in practice.

But, it's also the nylon braided stuff, so it's probably built to different quality standards and by different people than the vanilla USB cables.

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

#354

Post by toasterlovin » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:07 AM UTC

Marsymars wrote: post #324

toasterlovin wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> promote competition for the good of the individual C'mon, this is ridiculous. There is no need to promote competition when competition already exists. Hence a monopoly (or cartel) being a necessary precondition of antitrust action.

Competition free of biased incentives, but I thought that would be too wordy. Or simply products and services free of biased incentives would be fine too.

Do you really think the government needs to get involved when no demonstrable consumer harm is being done? Have you actually considered how house brands might be beneficial to consumers?

Let me explain. I just did a search for "lightning cable" on Amazon. I don't want to pay $19, or whatever it would cost, to buy an Apple branded lightning cable. So I'm going to go for something cheaper. The top result is by Amazon Basics. Then we have YUNSONG, PLmuzsz, and KRISLOG. I have no idea what those are. I have no idea if I'm going to get a steaming pile of inauthentic shit. But with Amazon Basics, I can at least feel confident that they did a reasonable job of finding and vetting a factory to source the product from. And, more importantly, that they have a vested interest in me having a good experience, since Amazon Basics is Amazon.

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

#355

Post by stjohnswarts » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:14 AM UTC

Well as long as they present -some- other options I'm fine with it. I always look through the first 2 or 3 pages.

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

#356

Post by stjohnswarts » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:17 AM UTC

Marsymars wrote: post #306

toasterlovin wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only reason bundling IE was an issue is because Microsoft had a monopoly on PC operating systems. The monopoly is a necessary precondition for the antitrust action.

> The monopoly is a necessary precondition for the antitrust action. If it is, it shouldn't be, and we need some similarly concise term for "action to eliminate biased incentives and promote competition for the good of the individual".

Yes it should be. Otherwise the government would have it's grubby hands in every deal, because power begets the desire for more power. Amazon has plenty competition

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

#357

Post by tracer4201 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:24 AM UTC

subhro wrote: post #121

tracer4201 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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)

They did get competitive pricing, but they have a lot more wiggle room because they’re a giant company with far more revenue, marketing, and branding than a couple ma and pa stores. These distributors may or may not have the exact same terms, but at the end of the day, these other corporate stores had enough foot traffic that provided them ammo to help define their own terms. You just didn’t have that leverage as a smaller shop.

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

#358

Post by notJim » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:31 AM UTC

bongobongo wrote: post #344

cptaj wrote: post #299

We definitely need platform legislation for the web. After a certain size, they should be regulated as public utilities. So many companies completely depend on Amazon's platform for their business and they're all easy prey for the behemoth. I did some work for a company that sells batteries on Amazon. A simple dispute got them suspended across the board. A decision made by a third rate employee from god knows where,…

You’re describing a monopoly and the proper tool to deal with it is anti-trust, not entrenching it by pretending it’s a public utility.

What would that look like though? If consumers wanted to go to 20 different stores to shop online, they'd already be doing that.

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

#359

Post by hoveringcto » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:39 AM UTC

mortivore wrote: post #44

philipodonnell wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A grocery store is simply a more organized open market. That’s not true though right? Don’t grocery stores buy the products that are on their shelves and they are reselling them? That’s fundamentally different from a marketplace.

Some grocery stores, like Kroger, sell their own branded products in their stores.

Exactly. Stores like Kroger use their data, make generic versions of popular items, and sell right next to the brand at eye level. Amazon just does it at a larger scale.

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

#360

Post by Johnny555 » Tue, Sep 17, 2019, 12:41 AM UTC

password1 wrote: post #52

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…

> Otherwise, Amazon feels like AliExpress with faster shipping and better English. It literally is. All these products are cheap stuff that marketers find on aliexpress. They buy them in bulk, stamp a logo on it, import in the US/EU, stock in logistic centers and then sell on Amazon. It's the same stuff, but it comes from an English seller and a warehouse in US/EU. It's exactly the same thing that Amazon does with it…

It's exactly the same thing that Amazon does with its product lines though (like Amazon Basics)

That's pretty much what Monoprice does too -- it contracts out to Chinese manufacturers for it's products (sometimes copying existing products [1]), but their stuff is generally pretty decent quality.

[1] https://www.cnet.com/news/monoprice-a-tech-consumers-best-fr...