Amazon Search Engine - Recent changes in Behaviour

[Guest]

I would be interested to know whether any Forum members have noticed any changes to the way in which the Amazon UK search engine has been performing since Christmas. For myself, and several sellers who have identified this issue, it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate CDs using name & title descriptors from the main portal. The search engine results seem to be emphasising digital download options and, where a CD is listed from the search, only higher priced variants. There have been reports that CDs cannot now even be found using EAN/UPC numbers.

As mentioned above, this change in search engine behaviour has happened in the last few weeks.This issue has been identified mainly for classical CDs but may also apply to other areas. I would be interested in knowing whether any forum members have been experiencing similar problems.

A couple of random examples to illustrate the issue (there could be 1000s):
1) Try to find the Tippett/Osborne Piano works CD set (Hyperion)
2) Try to find the Strauss/Reiner RCA CD of Also Sprach Zarathustra/Ein Heldenleben

If this issue isn't resolved the Amazon site will become largely unusable for me regarding classical CD purchases - and that would be a big loss.

[Pulcinella]

It might be even worse than you suspect.
I entered 'tippett brabbins' and the top hit was this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/British-Music-Collection-Michael-Symphonies/dp/B000068QS5/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1547462887&sr=1-1&keywords=Tippett+brabbins

As far as I'm aware (though I don't have that particular set) Brabbins does not feature in it.

A search on 'tippett osborne' did indeed find the piano concerto, at over £53, and postage of nearly £9.
Has it been deleted already?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tippett-Concerto-Steven-Osborne-2007-12-11/dp/B01K8O345U/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1547463149&sr=1-2&keywords=Tippett+osborne

Looks like something mightily wrong somewhere.

Edit: Still on sale at Presto, (£25):

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/search?search_query=Tippett+osborne

[edashtav]

I would be interested to know whether any Forum members have noticed any changes to the way in which the Amazon UK search engine has been performing since Christmas. For myself, and several sellers who have identified this issue, it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate CDs using name & title descriptors from the main portal. The search engine results seem to be emphasising digital download options and, where a CD is listed from the search, only higher priced variants. There have been reports that CDs cannot now even be found using EAN/UPC numbers.

As mentioned above, this change in search engine behaviour has happened in the last few weeks.This issue has been identified mainly for classical CDs but may also apply to other areas. I would be interested in knowing whether any forum members have been experiencing similar problems.

A couple of random examples to illustrate the issue (there could be 1000s):
1) Try to find the Tippett/Osborne Piano works CD set (Hyperion)
2) Try to find the Strauss/Reiner RCA CD of Also Sprach Zarathustra/Ein Heldenleben

If this issue isn't resolved the Amazon site will become largely unusable for me regarding classical CD purchases - and that would be a big loss.

An interesting post that has helped to crystallise my own views that I had thought might have been because of errors on my own part. I shall now watch and report!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

An interesting post that has helped to crystallise my own views that I had thought might have been because of errors on my own part.

- same here. I've noticed, too, that there's little point searching "By Department" - looking for CDs under "CDs & Vinyl" resulted in about two dozen MP3 downloads of individual movements of the works I was trying to find.

[vinteuil]

- same here. I've noticed, too, that there's little point searching "By Department" - looking for CDs under "CDs & Vinyl" resulted in about two dozen MP3 downloads of individual movements of the works I was trying to find.

... yes, same here. It is exasperating. Amazon searches for classical CDs are becoming more and more unhelpful.

.

[eighthobstruction]

....ah the earth and web are healing themselves....genes and morals are being repaired....the algarithms are reaching their helio pause....

[teamsaint]

Ah !! I had some trouble locating a sensible price copy of Trifonov's Liszt Transcendental etudes yesterday, which seemed to bring up only a £40 copy. I checked on Presto Classical, and there it was at around £16. I thought it was odd.

Trying again this morning,prompted by this thread I finally located the set at around £12, by using the album name( seems obvious I suppose) rather than a " Trifonov- Liszt" search. Since Trifonov - Liszt discs aren't too numerous, I'd expect the search to bring up both versions or listings, but in this case that appeared not to work.

So the lesson from my search might be to use the specific album name, rather than a mix of composer/performer/work.

Or not.....

( Trying a search using Tippett-Symphonies-Brabbins , the order of words on the headline listing ) does seem to eliminate the Decca set from the top of the search).

[gurnemanz]

I can't give specific examples but have also noticed anomalies. I have sometimes found it preferable to search from Google and add Amazon as a search term

[Pulcinella]

I can't give specific examples but have also noticed anomalies. I have sometimes found it preferable to search from Google and add Amazon as a search term

I have tried that too, and it often works well.

[HighlandDougie]

I would be interested to know whether any Forum members have noticed any changes to the way in which the Amazon UK search engine has been performing since Christmas. For myself, and several sellers who have identified this issue, it is becoming increasingly difficult to locate CDs using name & title descriptors from the main portal. The search engine results seem to be emphasising digital download options and, where a CD is listed from the search, only higher priced variants. There have been reports that CDs cannot now even be found using EAN/UPC numbers.

As mentioned above, this change in search engine behaviour has happened in the last few weeks.This issue has been identified mainly for classical CDs but may also apply to other areas. I would be interested in knowing whether any forum members have been experiencing similar problems.

A couple of random examples to illustrate the issue (there could be 1000s):
1) Try to find the Tippett/Osborne Piano works CD set (Hyperion)
2) Try to find the Strauss/Reiner RCA CD of Also Sprach Zarathustra/Ein Heldenleben

If this issue isn't resolved the Amazon site will become largely unusable for me regarding classical CD purchases - and that would be a big loss.

In the case of the Strauss (which is titled, "Richard Strauss in High Fidelity"), I suspect that the CD is, simply, no longer available. A quick search using the album title on Amazon France (which for reasons of location I use far more often than the UK offshoot) produced the CD but labelled as either a US import or only available used. The snag about this is that you need to know the album title, rather than being able to find it using, "Richard Strauss Ein Heldenleben Fritz Reiner", which failed to bring it up. The Tippett ("Steven Osborne Hyperion Tippett") comes up straight away on the UK site.

As a generality, though, my experience bears out the view that Amazon's search facility can often require a degree of patience (and some experimentation with what you think might be the metadata for the album in question) which becomes wearisome on repetition.

[sgjames]

Some interesting replies. Concerning the two random examples I picked:

1) Tippett/Osborne - The ASIN of the 'correct' listing is ASIN: B000WPJ5S6. This is what any reasonable keyword search would have brought up a few weeks ago - not any more. The keywords "Steven Osborne Hyperion Tippett" do indeed bring up a listing but at a cost of £53.

2) Strauss/Reiner - The correct listing is ASIN: B000003FE9. Presto does show this to be out of print but it is readily available from several Amazon sellers.
I know these ASIN numbers because I have bought these CDs in the last few years and they are in my Amazon order history.

As mentioned in some posts above, it is still possible to find the correct listing but I think it is now more a case of using keyword combinations which trick the search engine into giving you what you want rather than what the search engine wants to push you towards. Whether this works is pot luck.

My original post was from the point of view of a buyer. However, there are several sellers on Amazon who specialise in Classical CDs with inventories of several thousand. For these sellers a large part of their inventory has become effectively invisible, when using typical keyword searches, in the space of a couple of weeks. It really is a poor state of affairs - and I doubt that Amazon could give a toss.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I suggest that everybody who has been affected contact Amazon to complain. It's not easy (as I've just discovered) -

go to "Let Us Help You" at the bottom of the Amazon home page and click on "Help" at the bottom of the list.

Go to "Browse Help Topics" in the lower half of the "Help" page, and click on "Need More Help?" at the bottom of the list, and click on "Contact Us" in the Menu list that then appears.

Click on "Prime and More" (this is the nearest of the available options) - ignore the first "box" ("What Can We Help You With?") and click on the "Please make a selection" drop-down menu, in the "Tell Us More About Your Issue" box.

Click on "Pre-Order Questions" (about two-thirds of the way down, between "Amazon Restaurants" - I wonder what their menus are like! - and "Update account Information")

Click on "E-Mail" in the "How Would You Like to Contact Us?" box.

Delete all the options in the "Please Provide the following information", and type your complaint, making your annoyance clear.

Click on "Send e-Mail"


... and wait for the feeble reply from Amazon. (At least if they get several such complaints, there's a vague chance that they might improve/restore their service - especially if, in addition to the complaints, they make less profit after the introduction of this new system ... they might do the maths!)

[teamsaint]

Some interesting replies. Concerning the two random examples I picked:

1) Tippett/Osborne - The ASIN of the 'correct' listing is ASIN: B000WPJ5S6. This is what any reasonable keyword search would have brought up a few weeks ago - not any more. The keywords "Steven Osborne Hyperion Tippett" do indeed bring up a listing but at a cost of £53.

2) Strauss/Reiner - The correct listing is ASIN: B000003FE9. Presto does show this to be out of print but it is readily available from several Amazon sellers.
I know these ASIN numbers because I have bought these CDs in the last few years and they are in my Amazon order history.

As mentioned in some posts above, it is still possible to find the correct listing but I think it is now more a case of using keyword combinations which trick the search engine into giving you what you want rather than what the search engine wants to push you towards. Whether this works is pot luck.

My original post was from the point of view of a buyer. However, there are several sellers on Amazon who specialise in Classical CDs with inventories of several thousand. For these sellers a large part of their inventory has become effectively invisible, when using typical keyword searches, in the space of a couple of weeks. It really is a poor state of affairs - and I doubt that Amazon could give a toss.

There has been a recent clampdown by Amazon on marketplace sellers of CDs. I can’t figure out why, but it has happened, and I know that a lot of traders in used CDs have been hit. I don’t suppose that the changes in how searches work are connected, But who knows. Most things when dealing with Amazon are a mystery, even ( especially) to people who supply them.
One of our £9.99 titles has been retailing through Amazon ( not on market place) at around £1 to £2 for some time. We haven’t promoted it, and are supplying at standatd terms. Which means they are making a big loss on each copy of an admittedly slow selling title. Very odd.

[Pulcinella]

Where's Bryn?
He usually has a scarily good capacity at tracking down items on Amazon, so he might have some input here.

[mathias broucek]

I too have noticed that some stuff is hard to find on CD. And if you select CD/LP as "Department" it still gives streaming options

Lately, when I've been looking for cheap second-hand CDs, I've gone to the Music Magpie site and found some great stuff!