UPDATE: Current information in Seller Central on 08/18/2017:
Amazon – New function to improve quality of search results
Test 1: Reduce backend keywords
For our test, we used our coaster (B06WWJQZHQ). This product is in the category Home & Kitchen, which still has and allows all 5 fields at 1,000 characters.
In the first test, we completely deleted the backend keywords and only entered the keyword “seotestkw”.
Of course, we checked beforehand to make sure that no product, especially not our coaster, ranked to the keyword “seotestkw”.
We waited a few minutes …. and as though nothing had happened, our coaster ranks to “seotestkw”.
Bottom line:
Backend keywords are not completely ignored. If you enter a confirmed keyword by itself into the first line, it is quickly indexed and listed as a result in the search.
Test 2: Backend keywords of 250 characters
Here again, we are using our coaster, but fill in the first line of the backend keywords with fantasy text as well as our keyword “seooderkw”.
We enter the following into the first line of the keywords:
- Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, seooderkw
Again, we check to make sure we do not rank to “seooderkw”.
We waited a few minutes, … and here, too, we immediately rank to “seooderkw”.
Now we want to investigate further, and try different keywords from our fantasy text. First, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet”. And, bingo, … a coaster.
To “sed diam voluptua”, it is even in first position.
Same with “justo duo dolore”.
Bottom line:
If you enter 250 characters into the backend keywords, you just have to blink and, as before, you rank to the keywords, regardless of whether it is fantasy text or a “real” keyword.
Test 3: Backend keyword of 1,000 characters
In our last test, we want to find out what happens when you enter the full 1,000 characters into the first line. For this, we again use a fantasy keyword, this time “seotausendkw” and add more made-up text. We enter the following into the first line of the backend keywords:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel ill seotausendkw
Here again, we check to make sure we do not rank to “seotausendkw”.
And we wait, …. and wait … and wait … after 5 minutes or so, we still do not find our coaster.
And we do not find it with other fantasy text “justo duo dolore”
and also not to “sed diam voluptua”.
Bottom line:
If you enter more than 250 characters into the backend keywords, everything following the 250th character is not only not found, but all characters are ignored. Whether they index and are just not showing up in the search results or do not index at all, we cannot say.
What does this tell us? Let’s review the results once again. Please note that the following conclusions make no claims as to accuracy or correctness, and are merely the results of our tests and evaluations to date.
- For the last several weeks – depending on browser and IP – there are significantly different results.
- Since Friday, March 31, 2017 16:00 (CEST) it seems that previous tests are completely revised, at least we are showing extreme movement in the search results.
- Everything that <= 250 characters still appears to be used in the backend keywords for determination of the search result.
- If more than 250 characters are entered, all backend keywords are ignored.
- In several categories, 4 out of 5 entry fields with 1,000 characters each have been removed.
- The AMASCORE has significantly dropped for the majority (almost all) products.
- Yesterday, we wrote that we had determined that many products increasingly rank to keywords that are contained in titles, bullet points, or descriptions.
In our opinion, the following has occurred:
Amazon has limited the number of possible entries of keywords to 250 characters. Whether this is purposeful or a bug, …. who knows. The 250 characters are very reminiscent of the “old” meta keywords. Weren’t they also 255 characters ???
Of course, most products used a lot more than 250 characters. For many products, the change to 250 characters results in the keywords entered being completely ignored, which, in turn, means that titles, bullet points, and (descriptions) now have much greater importance.
If Amazon truly cut the backend keywords to 250 characters, for all those with more than 250 characters, it is as though no backend keywords are used.
But how does this explain the, in part, huge growth in sales? I think that is obvious. Titles, bullet points, and description are by now mostly clean, meaning that no keyword spamming is done there. If the backend keywords are now obsolete for many products, meaning they are ignored, products with clean titles, bullet points, and descriptions have a clear advantage over products that rely mostly on backend keywords.
Bottom line:
Essentially, everything has stayed the same, except that those who use more than 250 characters have a “slight” disadvantage. It is important not to limit optimization to just one option. You should always use any and all options the backend makes available to you. This is true for titles, bullet points, descriptions, future EBC (enhanced brand content), keywords, product attributes, . . .
We will see if this is just a snapshot in time, or if we are dealing with a bug or even a feature.
In this respect, …. keep amalyzing, …..