# Amazon Search Frustration **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 11, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273 "2019-11-11T03:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/21 "2019-11-12T00:54:06Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > \*\*Question 2) \*\*Several of you said you complained to Amazon: How did you do that? I looked all around the site for some sort of “contact us” box & could find nothing. You can pull up a chat window and mention it there. I generally do that when if what ever issue I’m having is the reason for returning something, so it’s not that I’m pulling up a chat window just to complain. However, for general whining, I usually go with a public post on facebook. You’ll usually see a lot of other people are having the same issue, so I figure that adding another voice will help them notice. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/22 "2019-11-12T01:32:50Z")
I couldn’t find a feedback form either so I did pull up a chat window. The first several times I typed, the bot simply reiterated that the digital album was not available, which I already knew, and did not explain why physical media kept showing up when I was clearly searching for digital media. The third or fourth time I responded, though, it did respond that it was registering my feedback as a complaint rather than a question. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/23 "2019-11-12T01:39:05Z")
Yeah, their AI bot is garbage. They actually have really good customer service, but the starting using that bot maybe a year ago and it’s a nightmare to try and confuse it enough that it kicks you over to a human. At least they got rid of the odd intermediary part where you’d finally get a human, but every time you’d respond a new human would pick up the conversation and ask you another question, clearly without reading the earlier part of the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/24 "2019-11-12T05:26:09Z")
Try other search engines. On the rare occasions I use Bing, the order and contents of the top searches are often different, and duckduckgo brings up some obscure or low ranked results.Once you find the model number, manufacturer or vendor, search Amazon. The same thing can be done with an eBay search. Get the info and check out Amazon. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2019, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/25 "2019-11-12T08:57:11Z")
> [@GMANCANADA](#): > > \*\*Question 1) \*\*Several of you commented that part of the problem is the “3rd party sellers product description”. However when I look at the text they use, I don’t see anything about “bifocal” in their description. Are there hidden description fields that users don’t see? Yes. The way it used to work (do not know if it still does, but would be surprised if it were radically different) - for every product, the third party seller could fill out a long list of information in a very specific format. It was tedious to do just one product; it could be incredibly time consuming to do hundreds or thousands, especially for certain categories. As a result, some sellers would take shortcuts and insert information haphazardly or incompletely. (like making everything look like it was a bifocal or not mentioning that anything was a bifocal). They could also add search terms (invisible to customers) so that their items could show up on an Amazon search. So if a seller was convinced that people with multifocal glasses really, really loved their cookware, there were ways to encourage those pots and pans to show up on a search for “bifocals.” ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/26 "2019-11-13T05:30:00Z")
Thank for all your comments. Too bad. It used to be Amazon was a place that had anything you could possibly want. It still has everything, but it’s impossible to sort through the crap to find it anymore. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2019, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/27 "2019-11-13T14:54:17Z")
I seem to recall that non-US editions of Amazon (uk for instance) had an Advanced Search long after they’d disappeared it from the US version. And it would let you do better narrowly tailored searches. Been several months (maybe \> year) since I made use of that and it may not be that way any more. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2019, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/28 "2019-11-14T13:29:53Z")
Tale of the day. Was helping **Mrs. FtG** buy a pair of shoes. Typed in the model in the search field and was getting a suggestion that included “women’s” so I clicked that. Clicked on some of the results. Narrowed it down to one item. Was ready to add it to the cart and did some double checking. It was a men’s shoe! Came _this_ close to ordering the wrong thing. On a less awake morning I wouldn’t have noticed it. Ended up getting them on eBay. There, the issue is making sure they aren’t “pre-owned”. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/29 "2019-11-20T20:51:22Z")
Another tale of the day. My 40 year old toilet snake broke. Bought a nifty replacement off amazon. Couple of months later, I was at my son’s home, encountered a similar issue and gifted him one. Couple of weeks later, my sister who is dealing with a disabled husband needed help to clear a blockage. Gifted her one. You just would not believe the suggestions amazon throws your way after buying 3 separate toilet snakes! ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/30 "2019-11-20T22:02:32Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > It’s a circular cycle (is that an oxymoron?). Tautology. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/31 "2019-11-21T00:39:00Z")
> [@Fir\_na\_tine](#): > > Another tale of the day. My 40 year old toilet snake broke. Bought a nifty replacement off amazon. Couple of months later, I was at my son’s home, encountered a similar issue and gifted him one. Couple of weeks later, my sister who is dealing with a disabled husband needed help to clear a blockage. Gifted her one. > > You just would not believe the suggestions amazon throws your way after buying 3 separate toilet snakes! Corks? ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/32 "2019-12-04T17:45:46Z")
I feel your frustration. Amazon’s search results often (usually!!!) come up with some completely unrelated items. It’s a kind of art (= “exercise in frustration”) to try to figure out the right search terms to use. Though the results are occasionally hilarious. About 10 years back, I was searching for some craft supplies for a Girl Scout project. There’s a bead called a “pony bead”. I needed them in a specific color. “pony bead red” did turn up some craft supplies. It also turned up a butt-plug with a genuine horse-hair tail attached. :eek:😕 I don’t recall whether the item in question was red or not (the non-horse-hair part). ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/33 "2019-12-04T18:08:53Z")
**Mrs. FtG** yesterday was searching on Amazon for “Friday Sudoku” (“Friday” denoting the level of difficulty). She’s done this several times before. But now, she was getting results like women’s dresses, jewelry and so on. It was absolutely amazing how wrong the results were. I just did my own check and mixed in with the puzzle books and such (quite a few not being sudoku books) were women’s clothing (including lingerie), a towel rack, etc. A: One should not need to click on a category on the side to narrow down something already quite specific. B: The categories are a problem for a lot of stuff I search for. Is it office products? Home improvement? Etc. Dear Amazon: “Sudoku” mean sudoku means sudoku. Anything non-sudoku should _not_ appear in the results. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/34 "2019-12-06T03:33:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > **Mrs. FtG** yesterday was searching on Amazon for “Friday Sudoku” (“Friday” denoting the level of difficulty). She’s done this several times before. > > But now, she was getting results like women’s dresses, jewelry and so on. It was absolutely amazing how wrong the results were. > > I just did my own check and mixed in with the puzzle books and such (quite a few not being sudoku books) were women’s clothing (including lingerie), a towel rack, etc. > > A: One should not need to click on a category on the side to narrow down something already quite specific. B: The categories are a problem for a lot of stuff I search for. Is it office products? Home improvement? Etc. > > Dear Amazon: “Sudoku” mean sudoku means sudoku. Anything non-sudoku should _not_ appear in the results. I was interested in this, so I tried searching for “Friday Sudoku” myself. The first page of results were mostly sudoku puzzle books and board games. There were a few [“Fudule” brand women’s dresses](https://smile.amazon.com/s?rh=n%3A7141123011%2Cp_4%3AFudule+Women%27s+Dress&ref=w_bl_sl_s_ap_web_7141123011) and [“Soduku” brand home fixtures.](https://smile.amazon.com/stores/node/16055594011?_encoding=UTF8&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=SODUKU&ref_=bl_dp_s_web_16055594011) I guess “Fudule” is a mashup of Friday and Sudoku and “Soduku” is to help out people with spelling problems. I am often quite grateful that when I don’t know how to spell something or screw up a word that Google or Amazon manages to find it for me anyway. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/35 "2019-12-09T09:43:15Z")
Amazon is so screwed up. Last year I got my wife set of various sized packing cubes for when she travels, (of course she hated them, until her best friend told her how great they are, and now she loves them :smack:) Now she’d like 3 or 4 large sized ones for longer trips. At some point I _will_ learn: my Amazon search for “Large packing cubes” yielded: [ul] [li]Solar lights[/li][li]Confetti balloons[/li][li]Hydroponics grow tent[/li][li]Bean bag ottoman[/li][li]Foldable craft table (4’x2’ of course)[/li][/ul] Not to mention: [ul] [li]Charcoal chimney starter kit (included gloves!)[/li][li]Hexagonal chicken coop wire[/li][li]power inverter [/li][li]Karcher power washer[/li][li]and a plastic cartoon lunch box[/li][/ul] Among other things. Amazon is a joke. Back to Walmart… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2019, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/36 "2019-12-09T12:53:39Z")
I had to google ‘packing cubes’ to figure out what they were. You might be better off using luggage or suitcases for your searches. I have no idea if that’s a Canada (or elsewhere) thing, but it’s not a term I’ve ever heard. Also, if you want to buy something you already got from Amazon, go to the Orders page and search that. It’s easy enough to type on ‘packing cubes’ there, assuming that’s what they were called last time you ordered them, and go right to the same product page as last time. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/37 "2019-12-10T03:11:56Z")
I didn’t know what they were until a couple years ago, but they’re definitely not a Canadian thing, they are a traveller thing. They basically keep your clothes organized during trips: pants in one bag, tops in another, dirty clothes in another etc. I saw them suggested in a story on “Best gifts for travellers”. My wife travels a lot for business. The friend that told her they were great is from London. Other friends from Germany, Singapore and the USA also swore by them. As far as your suggestions go: I tried all that - searched under “Travel & luggage” got many similar results. I did check my history and found the order from a couple years ago - that led to several pages of similar products, multi-packs with XS to XL sizes, which I didn’t want. I only want large size. I did eventually find what I want, but Amazon is a massive pain in the ass to use now. There is no possible reason in any of the multi-verses why a search for large size packing cubes should turn up charcoal starters or Karcher power washers. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/38 "2019-12-10T03:34:17Z")
I don’t know what to tell you. I just searched for Packing Cubes and the only results it gave me are for luggage, nothing, at least on the first page, that appeared to be anything other than what I would expect. But, FWIW, I do agree that their search results are often all over the board. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/39 "2019-12-10T15:21:00Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I don’t know what to tell you. I just searched for Packing Cubes and the only results it gave me are for luggage, nothing, at least on the first page, that appeared to be anything other than what I would expect. > > But, FWIW, I do agree that their search results are often all over the board. I just tried, and searching for “packing cubes” gave me only relevant, luggage’y results. Not a single wrong result. “large packing cubes” only returned luggage results as well. I wonder if some folks have cookies or malware/adware installed that messes with the search results? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273/40 "2019-12-10T16:37:31Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I just tried, and searching for “packing cubes” gave me only relevant, luggage’y results. Not a single wrong result. “large packing cubes” only returned luggage results as well. > > I wonder if some folks have cookies or malware/adware installed that messes with the search results? Cookies wouldn’t surprise me. Going into a private window and doing the search again without being logged in may give different results. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/amazon-search-frustration/843273.md?page=3)