Why you won't ever see Pixel Buds topping sales charts
You've probably seen some dubious reporting without any actual numbers claiming that Apple Airpods are "dominating" Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales at Amazon. I drop the dubious tag on this one because I've seen the resource this comes from, and the Jabra Elite Active 75t True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds are also listed as the top seller, so I have no idea what any of it means. Anyway, it doesn't matter nearly as much as getting the best Cyber Monday deal on the headphones you like does in the end.
It does pose a question, though - why aren't Google's Pixel Buds A headphones selling well? If you're an Android user, they are a great pair of earbuds that offer a few features no other pair does, and they sound every bit as good as any other pair of premium wireless earbuds will. You can also get a pair at a great Cyber Monday price if you're looking to pick them up.
The reason is pretty simple - Amazon doesn't want you to buy them but wants you to buy Apple products.
Google Pixel Buds A-series
$79.99 at Best Buy$99 at Google
Google's affordable buds might not be on any top-seller lists, but they offer convenient Assistant features that make them an excellent buy for anyone into the Google ecosystem. For eighty bucks, it's hard to fault this deal.
Without offering any explanation, Amazon decided to stop selling certain products built by Google in 2018. We can speculate, and it's not hard to figure out that Amazon wants to sell more Alexa-powered devices like the Echo and less Google Assistant-powered devices like the Nest Home Mini or Google Pixel Buds A, so pushing out the competition is an easy way to make it happen.
This is what can happen when a handful of companies control the entire tech industry. Amazon will gladly take your money if you want to buy a third-party smart camera that can connect to Google Assistant or a Bluetooth Speaker that does the same, but it doesn't let any of that money go directly to Google. Since Amazon is a monopoly in online shopping during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, sales numbers reflect this kind of behavior.
Amazon isn't the only game in town, though, even if it wishes it were. Plenty of other places will happily sell you a pair of Google Pixel Buds A if you want them, like Best Buy or Google's own web store. With the right price, it's hard to beat a pair of earbuds that fit well, sound good, have good battery life, and are designed to use with Google Assistant. There may not be an Apple on the box, but if you have an Android phone, they're a much better choice because they are designed to work with it in ways others aren't.