Introduction to Amazon’s Visibility Drop
New data from the Audience Key content marketing platform shows that Amazon’s visibility has suffered a significant drop in Google Shopping. This decline follows two changes Amazon made to its presence in Google Shopping, although it’s uncertain whether those changes are direct or indirect causes. The first change was the discontinuation of its paid Shopping ads, and the second was the consolidation of its three merchant store names into a single store identity, "Amazon."
The Changes and Their Effects
These changes appear to have had a measurable effect on how often Amazon product cards appear in Google’s organic Shopping results. According to Audience Key, across 79,000+ keywords, the effects of Amazon’s changes to its merchant feed initially wiped out 31% of its organic product card rankings. Weeks later, Amazon has now disappeared completely from the organic search results, creating a seismic shift that is immediately reshaping e-commerce SERPs and freeing up prime shelf space for rivals.
Overall Impact
The most immediate change was the overall scale of Amazon’s presence. Before July 25, Amazon’s listings appeared in 428,984 organic product cards. After the change, that presence dropped to 294,983. This shows a net change of -134,001 cards, which is a 31% decline. This indicates that Amazon’s move was not just a brand consolidation but also a large reduction in visibility.
Category-Level Changes
The reduction was not spread evenly across all categories. Some product categories were hit harder than others. Apparel had the steepest losses, while categories like Home Goods and Laptop Computers also fell sharply. Smaller categories such as Tires and Indoor Decor declined more moderately, but all showed the same downward trend.
Apparel Category Experiences The Largest Declines
Apparel stands out as the category where Amazon saw the steepest reductions, with its presence cut by more than half across several tracked segments. For example, in one apparel segment, Amazon’s presence dropped from 4,571 to 1,804, which is a 60% decline.
Several Other Major Categories Affected
The losses were also large in high-volume categories. Home Goods, Laptop Computers, and Outdoor Furnishings all saw reductions, while Business Supplies and Technology products also suffered visibility declines. For instance, Home Goods saw a decline from 133,717 to 73,833, which is a 45% drop.
Smaller Categories Also Affected
Even niche verticals were affected, though the percentage losses were less severe than in Apparel or Home Goods. These declines show Amazon’s reductions were spread across both major and smaller categories. For example, Structures saw a decline from 6,241 to 4,229, which is a 32% drop.
Merchant Store Consolidation
Another change came from how Amazon presented itself in Shopping results. Before July 25, the company appeared under three names: Amazon, Amazon.com, and Amazon.com – Seller. Afterward, only the unified "Amazon" label remained. This simplified Amazon’s presence by unifying it under one name, but it also coincided with a decline in overall coverage.
Where Amazon Is At Today
Even with the July drops in visibility, Amazon remained the most visible merchant in Google Shopping, with smaller visibility than before. However, that’s no longer the case, as the situation for Amazon appears to have worsened. Audience Key speculated on what is going on, suggesting that Amazon may be withholding their product feed from Google or that this is a technical or strategic change on Amazon’s part.
Conclusion
The sudden removal of Amazon from Google’s organic product grids leaves many questions unanswered. Whether this is a short-term anomaly or a more permanent new normal, only time will tell. One thing that is certain is that large-scale changes can have a dramatic impact on search visibility. As the e-commerce landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Amazon and other merchants adapt to these changes and how it affects their visibility in Google Shopping.