Keywords limited to 250 characters or PIMGate ???

In the last few days, various groups repeatedly presumed that Amazon no longer indexes anything with more than 250 characters in the backend keywords.

We took a closer look at this and have reached an entirely different conclusion:

Different results under different conditions

First, it should be noted that Amazon currently – depending on browser / app and IP access used – delivers in part completely different frontends.

Safari: not logged in.

Here, instead of the prior “My Amazon.de”, “Deals” , … Amazon now shows “Prime”, ‘Video”, and “Music” prominently displayed under the search bar.

Chrome: not logged in.

As before, here “My Amazon.de“, “Deals” , … now “Prime”, “Video” and “Music” are displayed below the search bar.

Firefox: not logged in.

As before, here “My Amazon.de“, “Deals” , … now “Prime”, “Video” and “Music” are displayed below the search bar

This becomes more evident as soon as you start typing into the search box:

Safari: not logged in.

The categories of the suggestions are colored in gray, the background remains unchanged.

Chrome: not logged in.

The categories of the suggestions are colored orange as before, the background is gray.

Firefox: not logged in.

The categories of the suggestions are colored orange (as before), the background remains unchanged.

So, it seems that Amazon is testing various frontends – dependent on browser and IP.
It is not confirmed that you will get the same results as we did in our tests if you want to reproduce the results, for example, with Chrome. Results apparently depend on IP access and computer.

Differences in search results

Safari: not logged in.

A search by the keyword “kwmobile” produces 38,840 results.

Chrome: not logged in.

A search by “kwmobile” produces 27,172 results.

Firefox: not logged in.

A search by “kwmobile” produces 38,840 results.

Here too, it seems that Amazon is testing different results – depending on browser and IP.

Safari: not logged in.

A search with the keyword “kwmobile passport cover” produces 23 results.

Chrome: not logged in.

A search by “kwmobile passport cover“ produces 9 results; however, Amazon indicates that irrelevant results are hidden, but can be displayed.

Firefox: not logged in.

A search by “kwmobile” produces 38,840 results.

Irrespective of number of search results, it is interesting that Amazon apparently first hides irrelevant results for certain browser / IP combinations.

It becomes clear, especially when you look at the products deemed “irrelevant” by Amazon, what the reason is:

Products that – probably – have the KW “kwmobile” in the backend, but do not belong to the brand “kwmobile”, are classified as irrelevant and, depending on browser / IP combination, are either partially or completely hidden.
We looked at the same for the following KW and were able to reproduce the above result:

• “kwmobile passport cover“: 9 results ./. 16 results with irrelevant results
• “kavaj passport cover”: 1 result ./. 5 results with irrelevant results
• “auna microphone”: 193 results ./. 306 results with irrelevant results
• “klarstein refrigerator”: 148 results ./. 199 results with irrelevant results
• “samsung TV”: 5,927 results ./. 68,273 results with irrelevant results
• „samsung galaxy“: 19,293 results ./. 2,087,809 results with irrelevant results

It seems established that brand names that are used in the backend keywords but are associated with products that are not of the respective brand are classified as irrelevant and therefore hidden.
But how does this work with other product features?

If you are searching for “refrigerator 120L”, the search filter on the left side is directly set to 121L – 200L. We have not observed this kind of behavior until now. Apparently, Amazon applies certain parts of keywords to the product features and thereby applies a filter on these.

This example is similar. If you are searching for “Auna 100 Watt“, this is interpreted as a match for the filter “100 – 199 Watt”, the filter is applied, and the search results limited accordingly.

From our perspective, we cannot confirm that indexing stops after 250 characters. Just the opposite. Indexing continues to be fully executed, only the search results are limited based on browser / IP. Amazon apparently places a higher value on matching search requests with product features.

If this suspicion solidifies, PIM (product information management), i.e., well-managed product features, will increase in importance as these seem to gain relevance in search results.