3 ms·

Why would Amazon want you to have it, though? They benefit fantastically from manipulating search results against you.

by creshal 2y ago

reginald78 2y ago
I'm pretty sure their search results intentionally suck to make their ads more valuable.
- daveguy 2y ago
  I stopped shopping at Amazon about a year ago. Too much overhead figuring out the good products, vs the scam products, vs the mediocre but pushed products. Been using Newegg/BestBuy for electronics, Costco/Target/Walmart for home goods, local grocery stores for food, and Barnes and Noble for books. I used to be good at picking out the gems from the cruft on Amazon, but either it's gotten more difficult or I've lost my edge. Also kinda nice having to wait again until I have a sizeable order to get free shipping. Much less junk.
  - cy_hauser 2y ago
    > Too much overhead figuring out the good products ... How does changing stores help. If the products are still the same but on Walmart, how are you getting better information?
    - doctoboggan 2y ago
      If you order from Walmart and limit it to what is in their actual store then you know at least some human vetted it as safe for sale in the US. Walmart also lets 3rd party sellers on their website and yes most of that is drop shipped junk just like amazon.
    - _DeadFred_ 2y ago
      Amazon doesn't care if you die. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU&t=192s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU&t=192s
  - _DeadFred_ 2y ago
    I can't believe that in 2025 BestBuy is my go to for electronics. Wild times.
    - olyjohn 2y ago
      I'm so horrifically disappointed every time I go in there. Their monitor selection is all super low-end trash, as is most of their electronics they sell (TVs, stereos, computers etc). You're lucky if they have an actual PC component in the store, there are bare shelves everywhere. They don't even offer a good selection of phones, accessories or memory cards. It's starting to feel like Fry's right before they went out of business. Overall, it feels like a store for people who need to buy an electronic item without knowing why or what they're gonna do with it.
      - duskwuff 2y ago
        > It's starting to feel like Fry's right before they went out of business. It'd take a lot for it to get that bad. Towards the end, Fry's was filling entire aisles with random cheap junk unrelated to electronics like hand sanitizer, light bulbs, pepper spray, etc - and even with that, they were still having to wall off large sections of the store that they couldn't fill.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
      - brewdad 2y ago
        Best Buy's web site still carries some quality. It also has some random items you might not expect. I found a sling bag on their site in a size that had been sold out on the brand's site for months. These days BB and BHPhoto tend to be where I start my searches for electronic items when I know what I want.
    - brewdad 2y ago
      Now that they tend to price match Amazon and vice-versa there really is no reason to buy from Amazon. If it's in my local stores BB gets it to me faster too.
Aurornis 2y ago
> They benefit fantastically from manipulating search results against you. Amazon makes money by selling products you want and loses money when you return them. They aren’t manipulating search results “against you”
- richwater 2y ago
  Amazon puts sponsored product listings in the search results. The more you search without finding the product you want, the more ad impressions are generated.
  - dcrazy 2y ago
    Amazon needs to actually sell you things to make money. They have an entire supply chain built around it. Ads that never convert aren’t gonna pay for that.
  - Aurornis 2y ago
    Ad impressions are orders of magnitude less profitable than getting someone to buy something. It wouldn’t be net positive at all to hide products you want in order to get a fraction of a penny from ad impressions. This is the type of conspiracy theory that immediately falls apart if you think about the numbers at all.
- blibble 2y ago
  being a retailer sucks, low profit margins however being a "platform" (i.e. middle-man) between retailers and customers is highly profitable guess which one Amazon is mostly now?
  - kyleee 2y ago
    All while disclaiming all responsibility for all the low quality / dangerous / poisonous crap they facilitate sale of. Talk about having your cake and eating it too

Why would Amazon want you to have it, though? They benefit fantastically from manipulating search results against you.

reginald78 2y ago

I'm pretty sure their search results intentionally suck to make their ads more valuable.

daveguy 2y ago
I stopped shopping at Amazon about a year ago. Too much overhead figuring out the good products, vs the scam products, vs the mediocre but pushed products. Been using Newegg/BestBuy for electronics, Costco/Target/Walmart for home goods, local grocery stores for food, and Barnes and Noble for books. I used to be good at picking out the gems from the cruft on Amazon, but either it's gotten more difficult or I've lost my edge. Also kinda nice having to wait again until I have a sizeable order to get free shipping. Much less junk.
- cy_hauser 2y ago
  > Too much overhead figuring out the good products ... How does changing stores help. If the products are still the same but on Walmart, how are you getting better information?
  - doctoboggan 2y ago
    If you order from Walmart and limit it to what is in their actual store then you know at least some human vetted it as safe for sale in the US. Walmart also lets 3rd party sellers on their website and yes most of that is drop shipped junk just like amazon.
  - _DeadFred_ 2y ago
    Amazon doesn't care if you die. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU&t=192s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B90_SNNbcoU&t=192s
- _DeadFred_ 2y ago
  I can't believe that in 2025 BestBuy is my go to for electronics. Wild times.
  - olyjohn 2y ago
    I'm so horrifically disappointed every time I go in there. Their monitor selection is all super low-end trash, as is most of their electronics they sell (TVs, stereos, computers etc). You're lucky if they have an actual PC component in the store, there are bare shelves everywhere. They don't even offer a good selection of phones, accessories or memory cards. It's starting to feel like Fry's right before they went out of business. Overall, it feels like a store for people who need to buy an electronic item without knowing why or what they're gonna do with it.
    - duskwuff 2y ago
      > It's starting to feel like Fry's right before they went out of business. It'd take a lot for it to get that bad. Towards the end, Fry's was filling entire aisles with random cheap junk unrelated to electronics like hand sanitizer, light bulbs, pepper spray, etc - and even with that, they were still having to wall off large sections of the store that they couldn't fill.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - brewdad 2y ago
      Best Buy's web site still carries some quality. It also has some random items you might not expect. I found a sling bag on their site in a size that had been sold out on the brand's site for months. These days BB and BHPhoto tend to be where I start my searches for electronic items when I know what I want.
  - brewdad 2y ago
    Now that they tend to price match Amazon and vice-versa there really is no reason to buy from Amazon. If it's in my local stores BB gets it to me faster too.

Aurornis 2y ago

> They benefit fantastically from manipulating search results against you. Amazon makes money by selling products you want and loses money when you return them. They aren’t manipulating search results “against you”

richwater 2y ago
Amazon puts sponsored product listings in the search results. The more you search without finding the product you want, the more ad impressions are generated.
- dcrazy 2y ago
  Amazon needs to actually sell you things to make money. They have an entire supply chain built around it. Ads that never convert aren’t gonna pay for that.
- Aurornis 2y ago
  Ad impressions are orders of magnitude less profitable than getting someone to buy something. It wouldn’t be net positive at all to hide products you want in order to get a fraction of a penny from ad impressions. This is the type of conspiracy theory that immediately falls apart if you think about the numbers at all.
blibble 2y ago
being a retailer sucks, low profit margins however being a "platform" (i.e. middle-man) between retailers and customers is highly profitable guess which one Amazon is mostly now?
- kyleee 2y ago
  All while disclaiming all responsibility for all the low quality / dangerous / poisonous crap they facilitate sale of. Talk about having your cake and eating it too