Article 4NE9R What does Amazon’s “Top Brand” badge actually mean?

What does Amazon’s “Top Brand” badge actually mean?

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WIRED
from Ars Technica - All content on (#4NE9R)
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Amazon's biggest asset can also be a headache for its customers. The so-called "everything store" really does sell almost any item consumers might want, but it's often cumbersome and time-consuming to sort through them all. To avoid "choice overload," the retail giant has come up with certain signals designed to help people distinguish high-quality products from the rest. They include star ratings and product reviews, as well as "Amazon's Choice," a mysterious badge bestowed on some individual items, which has recently become the subject of scrutiny from lawmakers. Now, Amazon is testing a new signifier, called "Top Brand." But no one seems to know what, exactly, a "Top Brand" is, and Amazon won't say.

Amazon has long given customers the ability to search by "Top Brands," but the products previously weren't distinguished by a special badge in search results. Now, if you search for "swimming goggles," for instance, Amazon may return several pairs from Speedo whose photos bear a "Top Brand" badge. Here's the weird part: the longstanding "Top Brands" search filter isn't quite the same thing as the newer "Top Brand" badge. Here's an example: if you look up "women's belts" on Amazon and filter for "Top Brands," you may notice that not all of the results actually receive the Top Brand badge. How can a company be a Top Brand in one sense but not in another?

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(credit: Louise Matsakis via Amazon)

Amazon says the discrepancy exists because the Top Brand badge is only a feature within Amazon Fashion, the part of its website dedicated to clothes, accessories, and luggage, while the Top Brands search filter is available across the entire marketplace. It makes sense for Amazon to try out this new badge feature specifically for fashion, since consumers are generally brand-conscious when shopping for things like handbags and shoes. But since not all women's belts are within the fashion category, they're not eligible for the Top Brand badge, even though Amazon might consider them to be Top Brands generally. Confusing, right?

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