AMAnews June 2025 — Title Keywords, Brand Store Updates & Messaging Policy

The first half of 2025 is officially in the books, and any hope for a quiet summer slump is being dashed by foundational shifts from Amazon. This isn't a month of flashy new toys; it's a month of getting back to basics, whether by choice or by force. Amazon is making significant changes to core pillars like product titles and buyer communication, signaling a clear focus on cleaning up the customer experience—even if it means creating major new workflows for sellers.

From a hardline stance on title keywords to the neutering of Buyer-Seller Messaging and a surprisingly powerful upgrade to Brand Stores, the message for June is clear: adapt or get left behind. Let's dive in.

Platform & SEO

Amazon is making waves with both a new experimental shopping feed and a fundamental, unannounced change to how product titles are policed.

Amazon "Haul": A Glimpse at the "TikTok-ification" of Amazon

Now in beta, Amazon is testing "Haul," a new shopping experience accessible within the mobile app. To find it, simply search for "Haul" in the app. What you'll find is an endless, image-led scroll of products under €20, described by some as "shopping on a drug trip." The interface is a dead ringer for TikTok Shop, Shein, or Temu, focusing on impulse buys and "hotly desired" items.

Currently, it seems to be a feed for items that ship within two weeks, with free shipping only on orders over €25 (otherwise it's a €3.50 fee, even for Prime members). For now, it's an interesting, if chaotic, experiment. You can even access it on a desktop by using your browser's developer tools to simulate a mobile device view on the Amazon homepage.

Title Policy 2.0: No Double-Dipping Allowed

This is the most critical SEO update of the month. Amazon is now systematically flagging and rejecting listings with titles that contain the same word multiple times. This is a massive shift from the common practice of keyword stuffing for ranking purposes.

Amazon's own example makes it clear:

• Forbidden: "Outfits for Baby Boys, Baby Boys' Suspender Outfit Sets for Boys"

Even clever variations are being caught. For example, "Ring Ring Ring" is forbidden, while "Finger Ring" might be acceptable. The system is still being rolled out, and the exact limits are unknown, but error reports are already appearing in seller accounts. The takeaway is simple: every word in your title now carries more weight. You can no longer afford redundant terms.

Title Length: The 80-Character Mobile Cliff

While Amazon technically allows up to 200 characters in most category titles, they've reiterated their recommendation to keep titles under 80 characters. This isn't new advice, but combined with the new duplicate keyword policy, it forces a strategic choice.

Our recommendation remains consistent: Use the 80-character limit as your guide for what the customer sees, and use the space after for what the algorithm sees.

1. First 80 Characters: Pack this space with the most critical, click-inducing information. Think [Brand] [Product] with [Feature], [Volume/Size]. For example: "Silent Mülleimer with Lid, 50L".
2. Characters 81-200: Use this space for your crucial back-end search terms, synonyms, and use cases. For example: "...Trash Can for Kitchen and Office, Garbage Bin..."

This hybrid approach ensures you capture the mobile click while still feeding the A9 algorithm the keywords it needs to rank you for a wider array of terms.

Listing & Catalog

Beyond titles, a few key updates affect how you should build and manage your product detail pages.

A+ Comparison Tables Are Your Secret Weapon

Most sellers use the A+ Content comparison table module incorrectly, simply letting it pull the default main image and title. This is a massive missed opportunity. As highlighted by a great find from Mike Bush, you can and should be uploading completely custom images and feature text to this section.

Action Item: You can create custom images with text overlays, checkmarks, and branding to turn the comparison chart into a powerful sales tool that guides the customer to the right choice. You have full control over the feature list below the images.

Even better, Amazon has finally fixed a long-standing flaw: the tables now dynamically pull in the Price, Customer Reviews, and Add to Cart button for each compared ASIN. This makes the tool infinitely more useful, as customers no longer have to click away to make a purchase decision.

GPSR: The Clock is Ticking

A final reminder for the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR). If you haven't yet, you must go to the "Seller Account Information" page to submit your Responsible Person information. Amazon is explicit: if the required information is missing or incorrect, your offer can be deactivated within 24 hours of being flagged. This is not something to postpone.

Advertising

A long-awaited feature finally comes to Sponsored Brands, but with a significant caveat.

Sponsored Brands Audiences Arrive (But Don't Hold Your Breath)

The ability to target In-Market and Lifestyle audiences, which has been available for Sponsored Products, is now being rolled out for Sponsored Brands in the US. This allows you to apply bid modifiers (from 0% to +900%) for shoppers who fall into specific Amazon-defined audience segments.

However, the initial feedback from even very large brands is underwhelming. The audience sizes are reportedly tiny, resulting in minimal impression share and impact on the overall campaign. Many of the more granular audiences available in the Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) don't even meet the minimum size threshold to be targetable. While it’s a step forward to have this capability without needing custom SQL queries in AMC, for most sellers, it’s unlikely to be a game-changer. Don't expect a flood of new, targeted traffic.

Marketing & Promotions

While DSP audiences for PPC may be a dud, other, more powerful targeting tools are hiding in plain sight.

Don't Sleep on Brand Tailored Promotions

For two years, we've been talking about them, and they are more relevant than ever: Brand Tailored Promotions. These are far more powerful than simple PPC audience targeting because they allow you to create customized discount coupons for specific, high-value segments of your own audience.

You can create offers for:

• High-Spender Customers
• Recent Customers (in the last 90 days)
• Cart Abandoners
• Potential New Customers

With the ability to tailor the promotion to specific products, this becomes an incredibly powerful tool for launch strategies, cross-selling, and re-engaging customers.

Warning: Be careful with your math. If you are already applying a heavy bid-modifier to target a certain audience (like a cart abandoner) in your PPC campaigns, think twice before also offering them a Brand Tailored Promotion coupon. You could be doubling down on discounts and destroying your margin.

The Brand Store Product Finder Just Got a Massive IQ Boost

For anyone who has been frustrated by the limitations of the Brand Store, this is a huge deal. The "Product Finder" module has received a game-changing update that transforms it from a simple gimmick into a robust guided selling tool.

• More Products: The limit of products you can include in a finder has been increased from 35 to 50.
• More Questions: You can now create up to 4 sequential questions to narrow down the selection, up from just 2.
• New Intro & Results: You can now add an intro screen, a custom description text on the results page, and a custom-named button with an optional external link.

This update finally allows brands to build a genuinely helpful, interactive experience that guides customers through a large catalog (e.g., "Which drill bit is right for my project?") to find the perfect product. It elevates the Brand Store to a much more sophisticated level. Thank you, Amazon.

Policy & Logistics

Two major policy shifts will have immediate impacts on seller workflows, particularly regarding customer communication.

Amazon Nukes "Mark as Important" in Buyer-Seller Messaging

This is a direct response to years of sellers abusing the system. Amazon has officially removed the "Important" option when sending a message through the Buyer-Seller Messaging service. Why? Because too many sellers used it to bypass the buyer's explicit choice to opt-out of non-essential communications.

Warning: Your ability to contact customers who have opted out is now gone, with one exception. Amazon states that if a message is "critical to completing the order," it will be delivered regardless of the buyer's opt-out status. This system relies on Amazon's automated detection. To ensure delivery, you are strongly encouraged to use Amazon's provided templates (e.g., for address verification), which are pre-translated and contain the flags Amazon looks for to identify a message as critical.

New FTL Service for UK↔EU Shipments

To ease post-Brexit logistical headaches, Amazon has partnered with RXO (formerly XPO Logistics) to offer a new Full Truckload (FTL) service for shipping inventory between the UK and the EU. This service includes customs clearance and aims to provide a faster, more cost-effective solution for sellers navigating the complexities of UK/EU trade.

What Sellers Should Do Now

1. Audit Your Titles Immediately: Scour your entire catalog for titles with duplicate keywords. Revise them by moving the secondary, SEO-only terms to the end of the title or removing them entirely.

2. Overhaul Buyer Communication: Stop relying on the "Mark as Important" workaround. Immediately adopt Amazon's official message templates for any critical order-related communication to ensure it gets delivered.

3. Explore the New Product Finder: Go to your Brand Store editor and experiment with the updated Product Finder. It's a powerful new way to improve conversion for customers who aren't sure which of your products to buy.

4. Activate Brand Tailored Promotions: If you have Brand Registry, set up promotions targeting your high-value customer segments (cart abandoners, recent purchasers, etc.). Don't leave this sales channel on the table.

5. Upgrade Your A+ Comparison Tables: Replace the default, boring comparison charts in your A+ Content with custom-designed images and feature lists that actively sell your products and highlight key differences.

6. Verify GPSR Compliance: Navigate to your Seller Account Information page and confirm that all Responsible Person details for the General Product Safety Regulation are present and correct.

7. Know Your Per-Order Numbers: Calculate your true revenue per order and, more importantly, your expenses per order. Understanding your net profit on a per-transaction basis is the first step to making smarter decisions about advertising and promotions.