I'm equally confused here. Who searches "Seth Godin The Knot" and if the first result isn't that exact book, goes and buys a book about knots or weddings or something? The book should be there in plain view at the top of organic best matches. Did they really test this "yield" claim?
Re:The Amazon Tax
by throwawayffffas on Wednesday August 19, 2026 @09:55AM
(#49361677)
I believe what happens for these users is they think amazon does not have it since it's not visible on their screen or near the top and click away, look for something else.
Re:The Amazon Tax
by WhrRTheBaboons on Wednesday August 19, 2026 @10:04AM
(#49361791)
Probably not a lot of people. But a sizeable portion will instead go 'Huh, I guess it's not on Amazon. I'll wait until it is' and end up not buying the book.
Amazon won't care because it's peanuts for them. Sellers will care and will pay amazon more in ad revenue than it will cost in potential sales.
Re:The Amazon Tax
by strongpigeon on Wednesday August 19, 2026 @12:39AM
(#49356915)
Sophisticated advertisers measure “incrementality”, which is exactly what you’re talking about. Alas, most advertisers are not sophisticated.
> The highest-yielding ad my publisher has tested so far is the search “Seth Godin The Knot“
But that doesn’t mean the ad is a good investment. It isn’t just about the yield from the ad, but about the DIFFERENCE in yield between having the ad and not having the ad.
It is really simplistic thinking to just look at conversion rates.