Amazon has been rigging Searches to boost their own products

[SamboNZ]

Did people already forgot that Amazon Representative admitted that they are deleting reviews, fake review, and bumps.
They also take bribes to leak data of Amazon in order for sellers to manipulate everything in their favor.

[kandao]

Amazon is clearly biased towards its own products, which is normal. However, this will obviously cause Amazon sellers to get significantly reduced traffic and damage the interests of Amazon sellers.

[iamsheikhadil]

That's really unethical for Amazon to do that. If they don't tell it to advertisers and sellers of their site who sell on Amazon that they are paying for selling on a platform in which the algorithm is against them favoring Amazon owned brands and not giving equal exposure, then it's really not fair!

[Mometaskers]

And the other sellers there are losing money right? From what I understand with companies like this (e.g. Lazada) is you pay them just to be able to put your products on their "shelves" and then they also get some cut upon your product getting purchased.

Brazen really. People saying these behemoths shouldn't be broken apart only need to look at abuses of power like this.

I don't know how likely it would be but I seriously hope Amazon gets the Rockefeller treatment. Bezos is just arrogant. Still bristling remembering him saying "It would be 'irresponsible' to not have Amazon Prime". No wonder people joke about him looking like Lex Luthor.

[styca]

I think we all knew that Amazon do that, but it's nice to have some evidence. The big tech companies are all the same. Google get in trouble for rigging search results in their favour, too. And Facebook scrape our souls and sell everything about us for their own profit.

The maxim that these companies live by is the old "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."
They will break whatever laws they want and rig everything in their own favour, and then apologise and plead ignorance later. What are the chances Amazon pin this on some anonymous lone rogue agent who has since been disciplined and 'no longer works for the company'... ?

[audaciousbeing]

WSJ has finally come out with something that all of us already knew. Amazon has been rigging their search algorithms to benefit their own products. This isn't surprising, and it's something that most (if not all of us) have already noted is happening.

Though now we know to the degree that it actually happens. So here we go. If you are to search for something along the lines of 'mens button down shirts' or 'paper towels' a large amount of the products that will be shown to you are products that are owned by Amazon through a private label brand. That's not something that is shown to you, as they are displayed alongside the likes of other brands.


All of this is happening while the EU is currently looking into this very issue, and they're seeing if there is anything wrong with a company owning a marketplace and selling products on that very marketplace . I'm assuming they're looking at this under an antitrust lens, as Amazon also controls about 37 percent of all online sales.

Here is the WSJ article as well - https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-changed-search-algorithm-in-ways-that-boost-its-own-products-11568645345?mod=hp_lead_pos5

For me I don't see anything wrong in this except there is a superior argument to the contrary. Companies can acquire another company for several reasons. I have read how a company acquired another company that provides its raw material and this is due to the fact they want to ensure consistency in supply of the raw material. Companies have always been biased against companies that is not related to them compared to one in which there is an established relationship just like human endeavors. So, if Amazon can have a company that produces what the client is looking for and they suggested in addition to other sellers, so far they are not forcing customers to buy from their preferred supplier, then there is nothing wrong in it.