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Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#151

Post by chihuahua »

chrisbaker98 wrote: post #135
CosmicShadow wrote: post #121

Scamazon just sucks now. It was once good, but every time I go to use it I waste time and get frustrated. I now only seem to buy stuff where the trade off on research vs going to store is not worth it and buy their probably crappy prime brand batteries. I've been floating like $100+ of amazon credits for months because I keep getting damn gift cards and more credit from returns. Sure there is things I kind of want, b…

> YGGFSS What does this mean?

It was probably meant to be an example of the millions of machine-generated nonsensical names that a certain kind of 3rd party seller uses. Typically these names are a bit more pronounceable - the algorithms that generate them usually include some vowels.

Examples from a search for bike fenders: TAGVO, XINBOUS, MEGHNA, NICEDACK, RBRL BRL, ENLEE, FETESNICE, JIVMEE

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#152

Post by aendruk »

chrisbaker98 wrote: post #135
CosmicShadow wrote: post #121

Scamazon just sucks now. It was once good, but every time I go to use it I waste time and get frustrated. I now only seem to buy stuff where the trade off on research vs going to store is not worth it and buy their probably crappy prime brand batteries. I've been floating like $100+ of amazon credits for months because I keep getting damn gift cards and more credit from returns. Sure there is things I kind of want, b…

> YGGFSS What does this mean?

Nonsense all-caps throwaway brand name?

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#154

Post by iso1631 »

chrisbaker98 wrote: post #133
jrs235 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But even their shipping (with Prime too!) is getting slower and slower. Prime's selling point used to be free 2 day shipping. Shipping is still "free" but many items take 4 days (or more now).

Anecdotal, but I haven't noticed this in the UK. Pretty much everything I order from Amazon still arrives within 24 hours, and I live in the countryside (albeit in the southeast so still not far from London.) OTOH I still notice the problem that other people have mentioned - that practically everything on Amazon these days is the same repackaged Chinese dropshipped garbage. Which is one reason I shop on Amazon far le…

I've never managed to connect with America tales of the length of shipping. Almost (99%) everything I order from amazon arrives when it says, most of which is next day. I live in the country, but like most UK citizens fairly close to a major trunk road (10 miles or so).

Of course I'm sure things are different if you live on Mull or Fair Isle, but for the vast majority of us it seems reliable

The quality of what you get from amazon is of course somewhat different.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#155

Post by fefe23 »

stankbear wrote: post #16

Always interesting when WaPo writes about Amazon.

That was my first reaction as well but then I realized I can't actually read the article as Wapo gave me a paywall nagscreen that had no X button.

Might as well not have written the article in the first place.

Media is eating itself. And then they are all STUNNED to find out that Fox News has more readers then them. You know who else doesn't bombard you with paywall nagscreen shit? Infowars! Breitbart.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#156

Post by imiric »

Mistletoe wrote: post #34

It’s refreshing to see this in the Washington Post, owned by Bezos. Tiny beacon of hope going out into the darkness. Search ads on shopping websites are just capitalism taken to the natural end. Hopefully degradation of user experience will curb it somewhat. Our only other option is some sort of new Internet Bill of Rights being passed and I’m not optimistic lobbyists would ever allow it. We need some sort of fund fo…

Those are noble goals, but have close to zero chance of happening, and they won't address the root of the problem.

> Search ads on shopping websites are just capitalism taken to the natural end.

The issue is not just with search ads or shopping websites, but advertising in general. It's the primary business model of the modern web, and the main revenue stream for most Big Tech corporations. Considering their symbiotic relationship with governments, neither side has much incentive to change the status quo. Some change is slowly happening, but I suspect it will become much worse until it gets better.

We're lucky that ads are still somewhat blockable. Wait until browsers become WebAssembly interpreters, so that this isn't possible anymore, or for XR to become mainstream, allowing adtech to do much more invasive tracking and advertisers to buy a chance to deliver ads straight to your eyeballs. Label me a pessimist, but I don't see how any of this will be unavoidable in the near future, other than by becoming a luddite.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#157

Post by jbuzbee »

I just got done searching for an accessory for a specific model of car on Amazon. My results prominently included items (ads) for accessories for a different model of car that would not fit my car. How does that help anyone? Wasted money for the company buying ads. Wasted time for me trying to figure out what is really applicable. And if I wasn't careful, I'd have ordered the wrong thing and would have to return it wasting everyone's time and effort. I guess Amazon got their money for showing me the ad. Worth it? I wouldn't think so, but I'm not one of the richest person in the world like Bezos - My lack of vision?

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#158

Post by wirthjason »

moolcool wrote: post #42

It runs deeper than just everything being an ad. It's also completely flooded with rebadged junk from dropshippers. A few weeks ago, I was looking for a new whetstone, and this is what I got when I searched Amazon https://i.imgur.com/1Utp2dF.png The results keep going like that. You see constant repetition of the exact same units with slightly different branding, often with the same stock photography, repeated for pa…

Niche items are pretty much a miss on Amazon. I buy a lot of things on Amazon but as a hobbyist cook and knife collector something like whetstones are much better purchased at a specialty retailer. I trust a shop like japaneseknifeimports.com a lot more than Amazon. These shops cater to the community and the mutual success of the community and the businesses are important.

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#159

Post by kennend3 »

mbreese wrote: post #141
kennend3 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are times i still use amazon and i actually bought a few items on Tuesday. Amazon's delivery date is friday? Want to guess where amazon's distribution warehouse is? A few blocks away from me. The point you are attempting to make is unclear. If the distribution hub is within walking distance from me, why does it take days to ship?

You’re assuming that the product you ordered is at that warehouse. It probably isn’t. They can’t store all products at all locations. Even if that distribution center ends up being the shipment origination site, the product still probably had to move within the Amazon network. Some of those things will move within the Amazon network, some with external (trackable) carriers (UPS/FedEx). And some things has restriction…

Speaking of assumptions lets review yours for a moment.

1) I am not assuming the products are from different warehouses. I know this for a fact. Look at my other post and i stated one item is being shipped from a warehouse ~120 KM away. I will guess the rest is from the local warehouse? Once amazon updates the shipping details (probably friday AM) it will show me where it came from..

2) I'm in Canada and it is not a holiday here so it is unclear why "today and yesterday had/has limited movement between distribution centers."

3) Amazon Canada rarely uses other carriers anymore. I cant tell you when the last time anyone i know received something that didnt use their own in-house shipping service so you cant really blame "UPS/Fedex"

Re: Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

#160

Post by id »

Mistletoe wrote: post #34

It’s refreshing to see this in the Washington Post, owned by Bezos. Tiny beacon of hope going out into the darkness. Search ads on shopping websites are just capitalism taken to the natural end. Hopefully degradation of user experience will curb it somewhat. Our only other option is some sort of new Internet Bill of Rights being passed and I’m not optimistic lobbyists would ever allow it. We need some sort of fund fo…

We don't see what they are not reporting.
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