Amazon's been tweaking their search algorithms to optimize for profitability, rather than relevance or customer satisfaction. It's such a risky anti-trust move, the company's lawyers sought to have engineering hide it from outside observation.

Source: https://t.co/thoE6AE8i0 pic.twitter.com/Yubb12iERI

— Rand Fishkin (@randfish) September 16, 2019

Lying to Congress is a serious crime with serious consequences. https://t.co/3MftaiOcVk

— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) September 16, 2019

Setting aside HR/China/military issues, do whistleblowers exist at Google?

I can't recall any example of Google engineers stepping forward to be a source about abuse of dominance along the lines of what courageous Amazon engineers have done here: https://t.co/pplPrIqcDj pic.twitter.com/xyiv0LjT15

— Luther Lowe (@lutherlowe) September 16, 2019

Amazon changed its powerful search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds. https://t.co/UkUKKOqX09

— Vivian Salama (@vmsalama) September 16, 2019

Well that makes it easy. https://t.co/VgFf5wehRb

— Marshall Steinbaum ?? (@Econ_Marshall) September 16, 2019

Important story by @DanaMattioli about how Amazon recently adjusted its search algorithm to boost its own products. https://t.co/utnlMI7jHk

— Khadeeja Safdar (@khadeeja_safdar) September 16, 2019

Think about this the next time you search Amazon -> Amazon changed its search algorithm last year to boost items that were more profitable for it, overriding internal dissent from lawyers and engineers https://t.co/u1CsRUVwEv pic.twitter.com/shqTj4omyg

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 16, 2019

Exhibit A in the case for why consumer brands (restaurants, retailers, etc.) must, must, must build, grow, and prioritize their direct digital sales channels. @Olo #DirectDigitalhttps://t.co/4uSgs7ZAFh

— Noah Glass (@nhglass) September 16, 2019

Uhh, duh...What'd you expect? And Walmart might just follow suit based on what they said at GroceryShop. #groceryshop19 https://t.co/USgRCRCT3o

— JimmyJJam (@JimmyJJam) September 16, 2019

Amazon reportedly changed its search results to boost more profitable products https://t.co/xtQWlX8rni pic.twitter.com/Tx2RkWGbPM

— The Verge (@verge) September 16, 2019

Big deal scoop here: Amazon changed its powerful search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds https://t.co/IBLvbraY9b

— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) September 16, 2019

What’s next, grocery stores give better shelf space to higher margin items?

What an outrage! /s https://t.co/yFXsbUg9ue

— Tomi (@tomi) September 16, 2019

Amazon changed its search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds. The proliferation of their private-label products on the first page makes it more likely people choose those items https://t.co/lFnHJ2o2ld pic.twitter.com/vfoT7TX4Ew

— Hanna J. Sender (@no_such_zone) September 16, 2019

Killer story by @danamattioli on how Amazon changed its search algorithm in ways that boost its own products and are thus more profitable https://t.co/nZObu2637G

— Miriam Gottfried (@miriamgottfried) September 16, 2019

Amazon has adjusted its product-search system to prominently feature listings that are more profitable for the company—a move, contested internally, that could also favor Amazon's own brands.@DanaMattioli with the inside story on the fight within Amazonhttps://t.co/zIjI6z0BWS

— Scott Austin (@ScottMAustin) September 16, 2019

The $AMZN search algo changes that the WSJ reported today go way further, but earlier this year @eugenekim222 reported on a change to the company's ad policies meant to boost profitability as well: https://t.co/VJUkpo6Na2

— Matt Rosoff (@MattRosoff) September 16, 2019

Any tweak to Amazon’s search-algorithm system has broad implications because the giant’s rankings can make or break a product.

Amazon says it has for many years considered long-term profitability and does look at the impact of it when deploying an algorithm.

— Scott Austin (@ScottMAustin) September 16, 2019

Amazon is facing the online version of what the UK knows as “the WH Smith problem” – try to skim money from too many places all at once, to the detriment of the customer experience. https://t.co/fUugxo7L2z

— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) September 16, 2019

The change could also boost brand-name products or third-party listings on the site that might be more profitable than Amazon’s products. And the algorithm still also stresses longstanding metrics that are proxies of popularity such as unit sales.

— Scott Austin (@ScottMAustin) September 16, 2019

“Amazon’s lawyers rejected an initial proposal for how to add profit directly into the algorithm, saying it represented a change that could create trouble with antitrust regulators.”
I’m just saying if I were Bezos, I wouldn’t be giving the Trump Justice Department an opening. https://t.co/av2eoEgqA2

— Kim Masters (@kimmasters) September 16, 2019

For years, Amazon’s search team faced pressure from its retail teams to artificially promote certain items higher in search results. “We fought tooth and nail with those guys, because of course they wanted preferential treatment in search,” said one former search executive.

— Scott Austin (@ScottMAustin) September 16, 2019

The WSJ has a nice visual on how this change affects rankings, but it won't be much of a surprise to anyone who's used Amazon's search lately -- they removed the "relevance" sort last year, changing the default to "featured." pic.twitter.com/YgH4ryzsmZ

— Rand Fishkin (@randfish) September 16, 2019

More of the products you view on Amazon are coming from ads https://t.co/hhw5QzQPBy

— Jeffrey Levin (@jilevin) September 16, 2019

More of the products you view on Amazon are coming from ads https://t.co/DavF8RXK6o

— Recode (@Recode) September 16, 2019

Amazon’s sponsored search content is making up a bigger share of product views https://t.co/E8bjmSHLRN

— Vox (@voxdotcom) September 16, 2019

Amazon changed its powerful search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds. https://t.co/Hz3vLbV5RW // Retailers gonna merchandise.

— Steven Sinofsky (@stevesi) September 16, 2019

What you should read and buy is constantly manipulated by search algorithms- trust no search to be objective.

Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products https://t.co/h9o9CmD2PS

— Whitney Merrill (@wbm312) September 16, 2019

Amazon is probably bad?

Amazon is probably bad.https://t.co/fs4yNzTUTQ via @WSJ

— 1 (@bowlingotter) September 16, 2019

Amazon changed its powerful search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds. https://t.co/t81twjeBrC via @WSJ

— Jennifer Ablan (@jennablan) September 16, 2019

Amazon changed its powerful search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds. https://t.co/x1jQ9R7Z9k

— SonaliRanade (@sonaliranade) September 16, 2019

A long time ago @DanaMattioli's sharp reporting revealed that travel sites like Orbitz spat out higher prices for people searching from Apple devices. Now, she blows open the invisible hand in Amazon's search algorithms.

Calling all shoppers: https://t.co/wkbY1EwQXy

— Nikki Waller (@wallernikki) September 16, 2019

아마존, 자체 제품을 향상시키는 방법으로 검색 알고리즘 변경 https://t.co/hEdsPoKatT
• 월스트리트 저널 (Wall Street Journal)의 새로운 보고서에 따르면 아마존은 자체 아마존 브랜드 제품 특권을 갖도록 검색 알고리즘을 변경했습니다.

— editoy (@editoy) September 17, 2019

(•_•)
<)    )╯Always
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\(•_•)
(    (> Own
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(•_•)
<)    )> Your Platform
/    \

Amazon changed its powerful search system in a way that boosts the company’s own products, a move opposed by its own lawyers on antitrust grounds. https://t.co/spbkc2Wips

— Joe Casabona?? (@jcasabona) September 16, 2019

Amazon has adjusted its product-search system to prominently feature listings that are more profitable for the company—a move, contested internally, that could also favor Amazon's own brands.@DanaMattioli with the inside story on the fight within Amazonhttps://t.co/zIjI6z0BWS

— Scott Austin (@ScottMAustin) September 16, 2019

This search abuse issue by the platforms is a big one: Amazon Changed Search Algorithm in Ways That Boost Its Own Products - WSJ https://t.co/N8mBdKABrw

— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) September 17, 2019

So this is a very strange story, because it's trying to push one narrative about Amazon while undercutting it at the same time. https://t.co/IJO12aNOAg

— David Dayen (@ddayen) September 17, 2019

Ominous: “Relevance is no longer an option” in Amazon product search https://t.co/fZiqKFqDA2

— Sarah Guo ⚡️ Greylock (@saranormous) September 17, 2019

Amazon reportedly tweaked its search algorithm to favour products that are most profitable for Amazon (often its own brands) rather than most relevant for the user. If so, that's an antitrust bombshell. https://t.co/4oq301g2Pt

— David Meyer (@superglaze) September 17, 2019

LOL: @amazon $AMZN tweaked its secret product search algorithm to feature listings that are more profitable for the company. https://t.co/J71oUBP7z5 @DanaMattioli @WSJ

Translation: Amazon has a formulary! So, it's now really ready for #healthcare ... ?

— Adam J. Fein (@DrugChannels) September 16, 2019

"The Amazon search team’s view was that the profitability push violated the company’s principle of doing what is best for the customer, the people familiar with the project said."https://t.co/4hKfJtfJVw

— Hamlet ?? (@hamletbatista) September 16, 2019

The Pay to Play mentality is true more than ever on Amazon - 1 out of 10 items people view from Amazon search results paid to be there https://t.co/0mhk2dPyrU pic.twitter.com/tfajuga9Ax

— Andrew Pearl (@AndrewHPearl) September 17, 2019

11 percent of all product views on Amazon come from sponsored listings, up 3 percentage points in just the past year.

Showing up higher in search results greatly affects whether people will click on and buy products. https://t.co/CpPjb6AcS9

— Recode (@Recode) September 17, 2019

Pay to play: 11 percent of product views on Amazon originally came from search ads, up 3 percentage points from last year. https://t.co/b9UROKBXED

— Rani Molla (@ranimolla) September 16, 2019

Also, water is wet, fire is hot, and Superman is strong. https://t.co/MGvSVehi54

— novus (@cyborgnovus) September 16, 2019

Report alleges Amazon manipulating search results to boost its products, profit https://t.co/fQltjbPtbm pic.twitter.com/vxcMDdKlWh

— Marketing Digital (@elmktdigital) September 16, 2019