Amazon has apologized to advertisers after its automated advertising system charged them to promote products they couldn't sell.
The retail giant acknowledged that some sellers had been charged fees for misdirected ads and assured that it was actively working to resolve the issue.
discovered for the first time. Rob Robinson, a seller of advanced gaming computers, has been charged thousands of dollars to promote his products in California, even though he doesn't sell them there. noticed and was the first to express concern. He claimed that the retailer's automated advertising system continued to serve ads in California even though customers were unable to purchase products, resulting in zero profits from November 2023 to January 2024. did.
aftermath. Robinson believes that misplaced ads are having a negative impact on conversion rates, a key metric for Amazon's algorithms that determine a product's popularity and where it appears in search results. There is. He noticed that sales were declining along with advertising problems.
Amazon's response. The retailer initially denied the allegations, but later apologized and offered Mr Robinson a £15,000 refund, despite the mistake costing him around £300,000. . Amazon also said the issue “impacted a small number of sellers” and added that it would contact affected sellers to issue refunds.
what amazon is saying. An Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg:
- “We will contact affected sellers to issue refunds and update our processes to ensure they are no longer charged for such ads in the future.”
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why do we care? If you are affected by this issue, please contact Amazon to see if you can receive a refund. However, if you are one of the affected advertisers, please note that Amazon is unlikely to fully cover your financial losses.