Almost everything on Amazon is becoming an ad

Post by jefftk » Fri, Nov 25, 2022, 1:23 AM UTC

wrycoder wrote: post #450

Vanit wrote: post #449

Amazon search results are nigh useless for me; it absolutely refuses to constrain the results based on my terms and just fills the results with vaguely related ads that aren't even what I want. For example, I've been trying to find what 5k2k/WUHD monitors they have, but it completely ignores that and returns WQHD/etc, so I'm no better off than just scrolling through the entire monitor category myself.

Try searching for “battery siding nailer”. You get everything but. All pneumatic.

Post by JamesianP » Fri, Nov 25, 2022, 1:46 AM UTC

manmal wrote: post #355

cycomanic wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are other sites so bad in the US? I can count the number of times I've been tempted to buy with Amazon in Europe on one hand. I mean pretty much every other webshop has a search experience that is orders of magnitude better then add Geizhals to the mix and you're almost guaranteed to find the cheapest offer, in much less clicks than even trying to find something that is legit and matches the search criteria on amazon…

The only reason I still buy at Amazon (even though I live in Geizhals territory) is the knowledge that returns and moneyback is a nonissue, even for consumables or when things break after a year. Most retailers are ok-ish at that (some do have a really bad Geizhals rating), but Amazon is pretty much zero risk there. For example: I recently ordered a €600 printer at a local retailer. The printer shipped in an unusable…

Post by repsilat » Fri, Nov 25, 2022, 2:07 AM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #327

s17n wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The other inescapable conclusion is that whenever the quality of the shopping experience on Amazon and the needs of Amazon's advertising business clash, advertising will win (just as it has on Google). Saying that the e-commerce arm is worthless isn't really the right way to think about it - the ads business only exists to due the e-commerce product. Both Amazon and Google are well aware that their ad revenues depe…

Obviously Amazon's e-commerce division is not worthless, but it often happens that conglomerates are worth less than the sum of their parts. Many activist investors have been calling to split AWS from Amazon.com, but the ad business can't be split from the store that brings it eyeballs.

Post by cryptoegorophy » Fri, Nov 25, 2022, 3:04 AM UTC

ljm wrote: post #301

sanitycheck wrote: post #246

My process for getting usable results on Amazon (.co.uk, presumably the others too): 1. Search for thing 2. Filter by department (necessary for 3) 3. Filter by Seller: only Amazon 4: Filter by reviews: 4 stars+ 5: Sort by price, Low > High 6: (Further filters as appropriate) 7: Look at only products with a high number of reviews 8: For every product, "See all reviews" and filter on "Verified purchase only" and "Show…

I had to buy a replacement USB cable in a pinch the other week. Probably the first time since pre-COVID where I could justify next day delivery (where I would normally be happy to just wait however long it takes from a more local retailer). I knew exactly the kind to look for but I couldn't just search for that and pick the first item on the list. I could have easily bought the wrong thing in one click and not known…

Post by astura » Fri, Nov 25, 2022, 3:20 AM UTC

pibechorro wrote: post #107

jabo wrote: post #53

I recently had to buy something mundane - a light bulb, with a specific lumen and color temperature spec. Weeding out all the junk listings, ads and clearly fake reviews, I ended up spending an hour trying to get to the one I wanted to buy. Had a very similar experience for another product as well. At this point, I hesitate to look up stuff on Amazon just considering the time it takes to find stuff. I much rather pre…

amazon choice and most popular tend to do a lot of the sifting you want.