• About
    • History of Dallas SEO
    • SEO Expert Witness Services
  • Contact
  • Topics
    • Bing
    • Blogging
    • Branding
    • Domain Names
    • Google
    • Internet Marketing
    • Link Building
    • Local Search
    • Marketing
    • Public Relations
    • Reputation Management
    • Search Engine Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Search Engines
    • Social Media
    • Tech
  • Advertise
  • Email Newsletter

Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Search, Marketing, Tech, and Domains.

Home » Google » Google is Showing Amazon Search Results in their Search Results

Google is Showing Amazon Search Results in their Search Results

Posted on November 1, 2021 Written by Bill Hartzer

Amazon internal search results showing in Google's search results.

Amazon’s internal search results pages are showing up in Google’s search engine results pages. Some are ranking well for their chosen keyword.

Google is showing, and in many cases, ranking Amazon’s search results in their search results pages. If you search for a keyword in Google, such as ‘smores k cups’, one of the top ranking results in Google’s organic search results is Amazon’s search results page for that same keyword, ‘smores k cups’. This is a big deal for several reasons, but I don’t think it’s acceptable to rank search results pages in the search results pages. It’s just a bad user experience overall.

Jump To

  • Search Results in Search Results is Bad for Users
  • The Amazon Search Results in Google’s Results
  • Internal Search Results Pages are Thin Content
  • Google Has Indexed Search Results Pages Before

Search Results in Search Results is Bad for Users

Showing pages of search results in the search results is, essentially a bad user experience. When we search at Google, as a user of that search engine, I am generally looking for information about something. Or, in the case of the name of a certain product or product category, I am looking for that product. The last thing I want to do is click on a search engine result and then see another page of search results. It just adds more clicks. And, personally, if I was looking to buy something on Amazon, I would go directly to Amazon and search for it. I don’t need to go to Google, search for something, and then have to essentially search AGAIN at Amazon.

The Amazon Search Results in Google’s Results

In the case of Amazon’s search engine results showing up in Google’s search engine results right now (as I write this), we can see exactly that this is, in fact, search results pages from Amazon that are “ranking” in Google’s search engine results.

If you look at the URL that is indexed in Google, it looks like this:
https://www.amazon.com/smores-k-cups/s?k=smores+k+cups

The “smores-k-cups” is a category (a sub category actually) of another category page on Amazon. The “s?k=” part of the URL is the search function (k stands for keyword), and you can easily see the keyword smores+k+cups in the URL. There is absolutely no question in my mind that this is a search result from Amazon, just looking at the URL. But even better, when you click on the result (the page that is ranking in Google for “smores k cups”), you get a page of search results at Amazon, that looks like this:

smores k cup search results page at amazon

Screen capture of the Smores K Cups search results page at Amazon.

This search results page at Amazon is apparent since the search function is already populated with the keyword, ‘smores k cups’.

Internal Search Results Pages are Thin Content

It’s been widely known in the search engine optimization and search industry that internal search results pages in websites are regarded at “thin content”. In March 2021, Ron Lieback wrote about thin content on websites in Search Engine Journal:

“Oh, doorway pages. They are a huge problem, and easy to recognize. Google describes these as:

  • Having multiple domain names or pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page.
  • Pages generated to funnel visitors into the actual usable or relevant portion of your site(s).
  • Substantially similar pages that are closer to search results than a clearly defined, browseable hierarchy.”

It’s actually the 2nd and 3rd example there, that Mr. Lieback mentions, that I would like to point out. In fact, the Amazon search results pages, the pages that are currently ranking in Google, are, in fact, pages designed to funnel visitors into the actual usable portion of the site: Amazon is creating these pages so they’re indexable, and so they bring visitors to the actual product pages. These pages are also “substantially similar pages that are closer to search results”. They are, well, search results. Internal search results.

Let’s look at the Google Webmaster Guidelines: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/thin-content
There is that actual page about thin content. Let’s see what they say:

Google will take action against domains that try to rank by just showing scraped or other cookie-cutter pages that don’t add substantial value to users.

Wait, what?!? Google will take action (as in give the domain a manual action penalty) against sites that “try to rank by just showing scraped or other cookie-cutter pages”. I don’t see how internal search results pages, literally millions of those pages, add substantial value to users. After all, users can just go search for that keyword at Amazon. And “try to rank”? Well, it’s not Amazon trying to rank: they’re actually ranking for these keywords.

Will Google actually take action against Amazon because they are getting their internal search engine results pages to rank in Google? I don’t know the answer to that. However, all I can do is point it out: and do my best to make sure that Googlers have a chance to see this.

Google Has Indexed Search Results Pages Before

It’s not like we haven’t dealt with this before. A while back, I wrote about Google indexing Bing’s search results pages in their search results. Once that came to light, and Google found out about it, Google promptly removed those search results from their search results. It happened back in 2019, and before that, it occurred in 2013.

As a searcher, or a user of the Google search engine, do you think that an internal search results page should rank well in the Google search engine results? Regardless of whether this is Amazon or not, what if it is another large retailer? Or even a small retailer? Does that provide a good user experience? I don’t think so.

Filed Under: Google

About Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer is CEO of Hartzer Consulting, an SEO Consulting firm that includes services such as search engine optimization, technical SEO audits, domain name consulting, and online reputation management. As an SEO Expert, Mr. Hartzer frequently serves as an SEO Expert Witness and Domain Name Expert Witness in legal cases worldwide. He also oversees DNAccess.com, a company that provides brand protection and monitoring, domain name background checks, and stolen domain name recovery services.

Recent Posts

  • Fansearch Launches OnlyFans Search Engine November 28, 2023
  • Actual SEO Media’s Approach to Discovered-Currently Not Indexed in Google Search Console November 28, 2023
  • Yoast’s New AI Writing Assistant Slashes Time Needed to Craft SEO Gold for WordPress Sites November 28, 2023
  • Revolutionizing Black Friday: Logie.ai’s Game-Changing Tools Set to Transform E-Commerce Sales November 22, 2023
  • Revolutionizing Holiday Shopping: Storyblok’s Survey Unveils Shocking Consumer Trends, Exposing Website Trust and AI Skepticism November 21, 2023
  • TicketNetwork’s $825,000 Fine Exposes Dark Secrets of Ticket Prices! Unveils Deceptive Tactics and the Scandal of Search Engine Ads November 21, 2023
  • Temu Strikes Back: Scam Websites Shut Down in Battle Against Fraudsters November 20, 2023
  • Identity Digital Secures Prestigious Spot in Newsweek’s 1000 Excellence Index November 20, 2023
  • Unlock Your Social Media Fortune: Doba Direct App Sparks a Money-Making Revolution for Influencers November 20, 2023
  • Unlocking the Power of Social Media: Mindshare and Snapchat’s Insightful Journey into Consumer Behavior November 17, 2023
  • Public Interest Registry Honors Global Changemakers in 5th Annual .ORG Impact Awards November 17, 2023
  • Ally Financial’s Dive into AI Proves Game-Changer for Marketing Team November 16, 2023
  • Planoly Relaunches with Creator-Centric Overhaul: Simplifying the Social Media Game November 15, 2023
  • Intellimize Revolutionizes Marketing with AI-Powered Account-Based Experiences November 15, 2023
  • The Impact of New Web Addresses November 14, 2023
  • Siteimprove Drops Game-Changing AI Generate – Your Ultimate Shortcut to SEO Stardom November 13, 2023
  • I Posted 39 AI-Generated Articles, Clearly Attributed to AI: Here’s The Results November 9, 2023
  • Hyperscale Launches Facebook Ad Performance Tool November 8, 2023
  • Wix Adds AI Meta Tag Creator to Help with SEO November 7, 2023
  • Teen Interest in Entrepreneurship Spurred by Social Media Influencers November 6, 2023

Hartzer Domains

Bare-Metal Servers by HostDime

US Agency Awards Judge

DFWSEM logo

Bill Hartzer is a Brand Ambassador for:



Industry Friends

I Love SEO
WTFSEO
SEO By the Sea
Jeff Lenney
Jeff Gabriel
Scott Hendison
Dixon Jones
Brian Hartzer
Navah Hopkins
DNAccess
SEO Dallas

Connect With Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Twitter
Bill Hartzer on Instagram
Hartzer Consulting on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on YouTube

Categories

  • Advertising (20)
  • AI (21)
  • Bing Search Engine (6)
  • Blogging (42)
  • Branding (16)
  • Domain Names (222)
  • Google (241)
  • Internet Marketing (27)
  • Internet Usage (87)
  • Link Building (53)
  • Local Search (43)
  • Marketing (185)
  • Marketing Foo (30)
  • Pay Per Click (5)
  • Podcast (18)
  • Public Relations (8)
  • Reputation Management (10)
  • Search Engine Marketing (44)
  • Search Engine Marketing Events (50)
  • Search Engine Marketing Firms (21)
  • Search Engine Marketing Jobs (33)
  • Search Engine Optimization (170)
  • Search Engines (209)
  • Social Media (207)
  • Social Media Marketing (1)
  • Tech (7)
  • Web Analytics (17)
  • Webinars (1)

Note: All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only, and are mentioned only to help my readers. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.




Hartzer Consulting



Website, Content, and Marketing by Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 ·