Amazon Listing Hijackers Manipulating Verbiage with Profanity Causing Suspensions for Sellers
A growing trend affecting Amazon sellers is the re-emergence of hijackers changing your listings to differ from the original titles or descriptions.
These culprits will change the listing to include things that trigger Amazon’s bots to suspend your listing.
Many times, a seller is unaware of these changes until they get notified that their listing has been removed. This is frequently done by placing profanities or medical words that alarm Amazon. When the altered listing is recognized to contain profanities or medical words, the listing becomes suspended, and a seller is unable to sell their product. The placement of vulgar keywords is a common tactic hackers use but they have also been known to upload vulgar pictures to listings as well.
One of the most prevalent incidents of this was in late 2018 when Guy Fawkes masks replaced countless product images on Amazon, affecting hundreds of products. Whether it’s malicious actors acting on their own or attempts by another seller to squeeze out the competition, these tactics seem to be a reoccurring trend on Amazon.
While we haven’t seen a rise in accounts going down from these tactics, it is an important reminder to sellers to keep a close eye on their listings. These types of tactics have mostly been limited to sellers on the Mexico platform but that doesn’t mean sellers in other countries shouldn’t be aware of it.
Anything that will have an impact on listings will have an impact on a seller’s bottom line. While it is a hassle for sellers to continuously monitor their listings, the headache of having your listing suspended is a far greater concern.
Hijackers can be tough to protect against, but they are not indefensible. Our experience has shown that by taking screenshots of what changes have been made to your listing and keeping accurate records of what your listing should say can help safeguard sellers. In the event that a hacker goes in and alters your listing, a seller will have compelling evidence to show Amazon. With this evidence and a strong plan of action, sellers can win their appeal to Amazon and get their listing back up on the first try.
Amazon’s process of allowing Amazon vendors to change their listings still exists. Even those with brand registry aren’t immune. Our firm has continued to show that through our hard-earned experience and knowledge, we are able to resolve both of these types of cases. While we can’t disclose our exact methods, we are more than happy to walk any seller experiencing these issues through the process.
If you are having an issue with hijackers, don’t hesitate to contact us for a free consult today!
Our firm has been consistently getting sellers’ listings reinstated and tackling the issues Amazon continues to throw at sellers. We’ll do everything we can to help you resolve your issue. A rising tide lifts all ships, so spread the information that all sellers can succeed together.