Amazon’s A9: the Superior Product Search Algorithm
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Many users do not know that there are three times the number of buyers searching for products on Amazon rather than Google. Like Google’s search algorithm PageRank, Amazon also has a product search algorithm of its own called A9. Google’s PageRank, as we learned in class, is an algorithm where results of a search can be organized in order of most relevance. In PageRank, a destination page receives a higher rank, also known as an authority score, when other pages link to the destination page. When linked to highly ranked destination page, the source page gains a higher reputation also known as a hub score.
A9 ranks Amazon’s search queries by three dominant categories: conversion rate, relevancy, and customer satisfaction & retention. Conversion rate factors include customer reviews, quality of images, and pricing. Relevancy factor of A9 considers different product pages for a certain search term. These key search words are usually included in title and product description. Customer satisfaction & retention relates to which sellers have good feedback and a lower order defect rate.
Unlike Google, Amazon is very explicit in how it ranks its products. This creates both bad and good results. Amazon’s explicit ranking system is beneficial because it creates more detailed and trustable products but also gives sellers a very clear formula for creating a highly ranked item. Unlike Google, there is no off page SEO so Amazon only needs to use internal factors within the webpage to rank products sold.