- Amazon’s Search Engine was developed by A9.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.
- The A9 Algorithm is the system which Amazon uses to decide how products are ranked in search results.
- It is similar to the algorithm which Google uses for its search results, in that it considers keywords in deciding which results are most relevant to the search and therefore which it will display first.
- However, there is one key difference between Google and Amazon’s algorithms: the A9 algorithm also puts a strong emphasis on sales conversions.
- This is because Amazon is a business and has a vested interest in promoting listings which are more likely to result in sales.
- Therefore, Amazon will rank listings with a strong sales history and high conversion rate more highly.
- This has a cumulative effect: products which are more highly ranked are more likely to receive more traffic and thus have a better chance of achieving high sales.
- In turn, this will boost their ranking, and so on.
- This is why many sellers and vendors on Amazon opt to optimize this algorithm through paid advertising and keyword and content manipulation for their listings.