A9 Amazon Keyword Ranking’s factors

I (John Z.) am about to share with you a deep understanding of the listing in the perspective of Amazon’s Search Engine. We can infer a number of factors that affect the ranking through the identification of Listing structure.

Everyone is talking about A9 Data, A9 Algorithms, A9 Rankings.

What are the precise factor of A9? It seems that nobody has been talking about it.

Search engines are not like the brains of human beings.

Even with the artificial intelligence, machine self-learning capability, in-depth computing nowadays, the language processing of the machines themselves still need to be improved. The following is a list of the structural factors of the Amazon Listing I obtained through technical means. I name it for the time being as:

Intercept Engine – diagnostic intercept engine. Referred to as “IE“.

IE views the Listing’s main modules at the front-end:

• Subject/Product Title
• Bullet Points
• Product Description
• Product Details
• Photos

And also back-end:

• Back-end Search Terms
• Subject matter
• Other trivial attributes, directory tree nodes etc..

From the perspective of IE, IE is mainly responsible for:

• Subject/Product Title
• Bullet Points
• Product Description

It has established relevant, fixed rules to determine what problems the listing has and whether it will be intercepted, and hence the name Intercept.

We can think of intercepts as weights of negative scores. Of course, these interceptions do not intercept the Listing and are not searched by the Amazon search engine, but negative weighting does.

I currently don’t know how many points there are.

Subject/Product Title

Intercepting Engine has the following rules:

• “is_adult_product”
• “is_attribute_value_contains_html_tags”
• “are_words_capitalized_exception”
• “current_winning_values”
• “attribute_value_contains_pricing_information”
• “attribute_value_list”
• “show_error_message”
• “attribute_value_contains_promotional_message”=
• “are_words_capitalized”
• “is_attribute_value_abusive_in_sexual_wellness_with_reason”
• “are_units_abreviated”
• “are_words_in_all_caps”
• “are_numerals_spelled_out”

From the list of rules in the IE mentioned above, there are 10 details on a listing above that we don’t normally pay attention to.

If we ignore them or even not amend it and there will be no problem at all, but the negative scores weights they bring can affect our organic search positioning.

Since everybody has high expectation on the Listing Optimized Operations, these rules/details must be corrected.

I found that our Listing of up to 6-7 years will still have Interception information error with the wording “Show Error Message”, some even show a “Warn” label prompt.

List of listing’s rules with explanation:

• “numerals_list”
  “zero,one,two,three,four,five,six,seven,eight,nine,ten,eleven,twelve,thirteen,fourteen,fifteen,sixteen,seventeen,eighteen,nineteen,twenty,
  thirty,fourty,fifty,sixty,sevety,eighty,ninety,hundered,thousand,lakh,million,crore,billion,trillion”/ Numbers need to be written in English, do not use Arabic numbers, do not use abbreviations /

• “restricted_characters”
  “!,#,$,%,&,*,+,?,^”/ Special symbols are forbidden /

• “abusive_words_sexual_wellness_list”
  “apeshit ,ass,asshole ,assholes,bastard,bast**d,batshit ,beatoff ,beatoffs ,birdshit ,bitch,blowjob ,blowjobs,bs,bullcrap,bullshit,bullshti ,bullshtity ,bullshtiy ,bullsiht ,bullsihtty,bullsihty ,chickinshit ,cocksuck,cocksucked ,cocksuckeds ,cocksucker,cocksuckers ,cocksucking ,cocksucks ,cum ,cumslut ,dickhead,dickheads ,dicks,dicksuck ,dicksucker ,dicksuckers ,dicksucks ,dipshit ,d**k,dogshit ,dogshits,dood,doody,douchbag,douchbags ,douche,douchebag,dumbshit,dyke ,fag,fck,f*ck,felch ,felched ,felcher ,felching,f*ing,f__k,f**k,f*#k,f#@k,f##k,fuc,fucc,fuck,fucked ,fucker ,fuckers fucket,fucking ,fuk,fu_k,fu*k,fuk ,fukk,fuqu,furtling ,goatse ,horseshit,jackass,jackoff,jackoffs ,jackshit ,jackshits ,jerk,jerkoff ,jerkoffs ,jis ,jisem ,jisim,jising ,jiss ,jissem ,jissim ,jissing ,jissum ,jisum ,jiz ,jizem ,jizim,jizing ,jizum ,jizz ,jizzem ,jizzim ,jizzing ,jizzum ,limpdick ,moron,nutsac,nutsack ,nutsak ,pecker,peckers ,peckerwood ,peckerwoods ,phuck,phucked ,phucker ,phuckers,phucket,phucking ,phukk,phuqu,piggery ,piss,poop,poopy,p**p,rape,raped ,semen ,shit,shitface,shitfor ,shithead ,shittie ,shittier ,shittiest ,shitting ,shitts,shitty,shittyr ,shittz ,sh_t,sh!t,sh*t,smack_my_bitch_up ,snatch ,snatches ,snatchs,snatchz ,s**t,tubesteak ,twat ,wank,wtf, anal, Affenscheiu00dfe, Arsch, Arschloch,Bastard, Hexe,einen blasen, Schwanz, Schwanzlutscher, Schwanz lutschen, Nutte, ficken, Fick, Wichser, Fotze, Mu00f6se,Wichser, wichsen, Scheiu00df, scheiu00dfen, Sack, Dreck, Drecksack”/ Obscene vocabulary is forbidden /

• “abusive_words_list”
  “normal abusive,anal ,apeshit ,ass,asshole ,assholes,bastard,bast**d,batshit ,beatoff ,beatoffs ,birdshit ,bitch,blowjob ,blowjobs,bs,bullcrap,bullshit,bullshti ,bullshtity ,bullshtiy ,bullsiht ,bullsihtty,bullsihty ,chickinshit ,cock,cocksuck,cocksucked ,cocksuckeds ,cocksucker,cocksuckers ,cocksucking ,cocksucks ,cum ,cumslut ,dick,dickhead,dickheads,dicks ,dicksuck ,dicksucker ,dicksuckers ,dicksucks ,dipshit ,d**k,dogshit,dogshits ,dood,doody,douchbag,douchbags ,douche,douchebag,dumbshit,dyke ,fag,fck,f*ck,felch ,felched ,felcher ,felching,f*ing,f__k,f**k,f*#k,f#@k,f##k,fuc,fucc,fuck,fucked ,fucker ,fuckers ,fucket,fucking ,fuk,fu_k,fu*k,fuk ,fukk,fuqu,furtling ,goatse,horseshit,jackass,jackoff ,jackoffs ,jackshit ,jackshits ,jerk,jerkoff,jerkoffs ,jis ,jisem ,jisim ,jising ,jiss ,jissem ,jissim ,jissing ,jissum,jisum ,jiz ,jizem ,jizim ,jizing ,jizum ,jizz ,jizzem ,jizzim ,jizzing ,jizzum,limpdick ,moron,nutsac ,nutsack ,nutsak ,pecker ,peckers ,peckerwood,peckerwoods ,phuck,phucked ,phucker ,phuckers ,phucket,phucking,phukk,phuqu,piggery ,piss,poop,poopy,p**p,rape,raped ,semen ,shit,shitface,shitfor ,shithead ,shittie ,shittier ,shittiest ,shitting ,shitts,shitty,shittyr ,shittz ,sh_t,sh!t,sh*t,smack_my_bitch_up ,snatch ,snatches,snatchs ,snatchz ,s**t,tubesteak ,twat ,wank,wtf, anal, Affenscheiu00dfe,Arsch, Arschloch, Bastard, Hexe, einen blasen, Schwanz, Schwanzlutscher,Schwanz lutschen, Nutte, ficken, Fick, Fotze, Mu00f6se, Wichser, wichsen,Scheiu00df, scheiu00dfen, Sack, Dreck, Drecksack”,/ Abusive vocabulary is forbidden /

• “units_map”
  “{“cm”:”centimeter”,”cu”:”cubic”,”ft”:”foot”,”gl”:”gallon”,”gr”:”gram”,”g”:”gram”,”km”:”killometer”,”in
  “:”inch”,”kg”:”killogram”,”l”:”liter”,”lb”:”pound”,”m”:”meter”,”mi”:”mile”,”oz”:”ounce”,”qt”:”quart”,”std
  “:”standard”,”yd”:”yard”,”mg”:”milligram”,”ml”:”milliliter”}”/ Unit abbreviation /

• “pricing_information_list”
  “Save money, Save cash, Great for, Great as, Bestselling, Special offer, Special promo, Discounted price, Save $, % off, Bestprice, buy now, money back guarantee, unbeatable price, warranty, moneyback”,/ Do not use promotional words as mentioned above /

• “units_list”
  “std,gt,ft,gr,cm,mi,m,l,km,lb,g,yd,oz,in,kg,gl,cu,mg,ml”,/ Allowed unit list /

• “promotional_message_list”
  “100%Satisfaction Guarantee, deals, mail rebate, Hot item, Best Seller, free ship,free, Refurbished, Manufactured, Guaranteed, Satisfaction, seen on tv, limitedtime offer, summer sale, winter sale, spring sale, fall sale, best deal, big sale,huge sale, massive sale, don’t miss out, Hassle free, On sale, super sale, freegift, over- stock, overstock, close-out, closeout, FedEx, UPS, Christmas, gift,gifts, Christmas Gift, Christmas Gifts, Black Friday, Valentines Day,Valentine’s Day, Fathers Day, Father’s Day, Mothers Day, Mother’s Day, Labourday, Labor day, New Year”}}”/ Promotional phrases are prohibited /
  

The list of rules shown above is straightforward, there will be negative weight as long as the above text is in the listing: “show_error_message“

There will be two kinds of interception information: Error or Warn.

There is a list of rules and a list of straightforward rules. I quote some examples as shown below to explain how to interpret and apply these rules.

Reference to the example below on how IE reads and interpret Bullet Points and Product Description

Rules are similar to Subject/Product Title but you still need to take a look at the list of rules carefully as it’s slightly different.

Bullet Points Rules

“merchant”:
{
“merchant_id”: “324XXXXXX”
}

“asin”:
{
“asin_id”: “B078XXXXXX”,
“product_type”:” “,
“gl_product_group_type”:” “,
“is_adult_product”:false / This implies you are not allowed to use any vocabularies that is commonly used in adult products /
},

“marketplace”:
{
“marketplace_id”: “1”
}

“asinattribute”:
{
“is_attribute_value_contains_html_tags”:false, / Try not to use html code unless you have A+ Content permissions /
“is_attribute_value_abusive_with_reason”:false, / Do not use abusive words /
“attribute_name”:”bullet_point”,
“current_winning_values”:”Bullet Points list”
“attribute_value_contains_pricing_information”:false, / Do not add pricing-related advertising words, see the list of rules /
“attribute_value_list”:&“Edited Bullet Points List“,
“allow_user_override”:false, / The system prompts whether it is locked, if it is locked means that the Bullet Points cannot be modified /
“show_error_message”:true, / IE sends out interception information. This example means that an ERROR occurred. /
“attribute_value_contains_promotional_message”:[“free“],
“error_message_popover”:”Your suggestedchange for ASIN B0786XXXX Bullet points field includes the following content that may not comply with Amazon’s Style Guide:
<br><ulclass=”a-vertical a-color-base”><li>Prohibited promotionallanguage: free</li><li>Special characters – u3011, u3010, u2714,u3011, u3010, u201d, u2714, u3011, u3010, u2714, u3011, u3010, u2714,&, u3011, u3010 and u2714</li></ul>
Please update your Bulletpoints to correct the content flagged above.”, / In this example, the word “Free” and unique symbol “&” appear in the Bullet Points. This word is mentioned in the list of rules, and is categorized as a “Promotional Message”. The system prompts to delete the word “Free” and “&” symbol. /
“error_message_inline”:”Your update includes errors that must be fixed before proceeding“, / The interception prompt must be corrected in order to execute the next step /
“is_attribute_value_abusive_in_sexual_wellness_with_reason”:false,/ In this example, the system does not recognize any abusive vocabularies and is perfectly ok /
“error_level”:”error“, / This example is judged as “Error”. There are 2 types of Error level: “Error” and “Warn” /
“does_value_start_with_caps”:true / The first alphabet of the sentence is capitalized, and passed /
}

“request”:
{
“status”: “success“,
“request_id”:”9F9XXXXJPGFSXXXWZRXX”
}

“logCharLimitRules”:null
“areWordsCapitalized”:true
“errorReason”:null
“styleGuideUrlLength”:0
“pricingInformationList”:null
“restrictedCharactersListStr”:“%“
“warningProhibittedScenariosLength”:1
“errorProhibittedScenarios”:null
“charLengthExceededAttributes”:null
“areUnitsAbreviated”:null
“charLimitsList”:[100000]
“errorFound”:false
“subjectiveComentaryList”:null
“areWordsCapitalizedException”:null

“categoryMap”:“gl_wine”

“char_limits”:
{
“item_name”: 50,
“product_description”:2000, ”
bullet_point”:200
}

“shipWordsList”:null
“warnFound”:true
“outputList2”:[“%“]
“errorProhibittedScenariosLength”:0
“abusiveWordsList”:null
“styleGuideUrl”:“”
“restrictedCharactersList”:[“%“]
“areNumeralsSpelledOut”:null
“promotionalMessagesList”:null
“warnReason”:[“RestrictedCharactersUsed“]
“areWordsInAllCaps”:null“

Product Description Rules

“merchant”:
{
“merchant_id”: “324788627”
},

“asin”:
{
“asin_id”: “B0786XXXX”,
“product_type”:” “,
“gl_product_group_type”:” “,
“is_adult_product”:false
},

“marketplace”:
{
“marketplace_id”: “1”
},

“asinattribute”:
{
“is_attribute_value_contains_html_tags”:false, /Passed perfectly/
“is_attribute_value_abusive_with_reason”:false, / Passed perfectly /
“attribute_name”: “product_description”,
“current_winning_values”:false“Product Description“],
“attribute_value_contains_pricing_information”:false, / Passed perfectly /
“attribute_value_list”:&“Edited Product Description“],
“allow_user_override”:true, / The product description of the example, the seller has modify permissions /
“show_error_message”:true, / Intercept information: There is an error /
“attribute_value_contains_promotional_message”:false, / Passed perfectly /
“error_message_popover”:”Your suggestedchange for ASIN B0786XXXX Description field includes the following content that may not comply with Amazon’s Style Guide:
<br><ulclass=”a-vertical a-color-base”><li>Included the symbol oz instead of ounce</li><li>Special characters – &, u00a0 andu201d</li></ul>Please update your Description to correct thecontent flagged above.”, / The product description example does not comply with Amazon’s guidelines: 1- uses the abbreviation oz, should write in full, ounces; 2- with special symbols “&”, should be changed to “and”. /
“error_message_inline”:”Your update includes content that may not comply with Amazon’s StyleGuide“, / The interception prompt must be corrected in order to execute the next step /
“is_attribute_value_abusive_in_sexual_wellness_with_reason”:false, / Passed perfectly /
“error_level”:”warn“, / The example was intercepted as a “Warn” /
“are_units_abreviated”:%sqs%”oz“] / Intercepted to identify the abbreviated unit oz, should write all “ounce” /
},

“request”:
{
“status”: “success“,
“request_id”: “9FXXXXXXGXX2ZXXX7J”
},

The two above examples are given to provide a real feeling for everyone, to see how the Amazon search engine treats our listing.

The A9 rule is a list that has been written in a very straightforward way, and as of now is not utilizing any AI and/or machine-learning to recognize linguistic behavior.

Credits: John Z. – ClockWorks Team – Deepbrief.net