Suppressed listings on Amazon have a direct effect on sellers, making their products unavailable and unsellable to potential customers, resulting in a significant decrease in sales. Suppressed Amazon listings disrupt the seller’s revenue stream and can result in inventory stagnation, particularly for time-sensitive or seasonal products. Finally, a high frequency of Amazon listing suppressions damages a seller’s reputation and ranking, making it difficult to rebuild customer confidence and regain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Let’s see what you should do to fix and avoid suppressed Amazon listings.

What is an Amazon Suppressed Listing?

An Amazon Suppressed listing is a listing on the Amazon platform that is hidden from the search results. This means that when customers search for your product on Amazon, they will not be able to find it. Just like unattended Amazon SEO, suppressed listings have a huge effect on your business. They can result in lost sales and reduced brand awareness.

A suppressed listing can be highly detrimental to any Amazon seller for several reasons:

1. Lost Visibility: When a listing is suppressed, it essentially becomes invisible to the vast majority of potential customers. Since most Amazon customers use the search function to find products, a suppressed listing is not discoverable through this primary channel. This severely limits the exposure of the product.
2. Reduced Sales: The direct consequence of lost visibility is a significant decrease in sales. Since customers cannot find the product, they cannot purchase it. This can have a substantial financial impact, especially if the product was a major revenue generator for the seller.
3. Wasted Marketing Efforts: Sellers often invest considerable time and resources in optimizing their listings for search, including SEO strategies, high-quality images, and detailed product descriptions. A suppressed listing renders these efforts moot, wasting both the time and money spent on them.
4. Inventory Challenges: For sellers who rely on forecasting for inventory management, a suppressed listing can disrupt their supply chain. They might end up with excess stock that they cannot sell quickly, leading to increased storage costs and potential cash flow issues.
5. Brand Damage: If a product is suppressed, especially for an extended period, it can damage the brand’s reputation and credibility. Customers may perceive the product as unreliable or of low quality, or they may simply forget about the brand due to decreased visibility.
6. Loss of Competitive Edge: In a highly competitive marketplace like Amazon, losing your product’s visibility can allow competitors to capture your market share. Customers looking for a product similar to yours will turn to other listings, potentially leading to a permanent shift in customer loyalty.
7. Algorithmic Disadvantages: Amazon’s search algorithm favors products with higher sales and better reviews. When a listing is suppressed, it’s not generating sales or reviews, which can lead to a lower ranking even after the listing is reinstated. This creates a long-term negative impact on product visibility and sales.
8. Time and Effort in Resolution: Resolving a suppressed listing often requires time and effort to identify and rectify the issues causing the suppression. This process can be time-consuming and frustrating, diverting attention away from other business growth activities.
9. Less Efficiency on Google Shoping (for BrighBridge Users): If you are using BrightBridge for showcasing your Amazon products directly on Google Shopping, suppressed listings can affect your perfromance there. BrightBridge uses your Amazon listing data for crafting Google Shopping feeds. Any issues with your Amazon listings can hurt your performance on Google Shopping.

A suppressed listing on Amazon can severely impact a seller’s visibility, sales, brand reputation, and competitive positioning, leading to significant financial and operational challenges and severe negative effects on your Amazon ROI.

Why is Your Amazon Listing Suppressed?

A suppressed Amazon listing occurs when Amazon removes a product listing from search and browse results on its platform. This can happen for several reasons, often related to Amazon’s strict guidelines for listing quality and customer experience. Common causes include:

1. Non-Compliance with Amazon’s Product Image Requirements: Amazon has specific requirements for main listing images, such as a pure white background, high-resolution images, and the product occupying a certain percentage of the image space. For example, a kitchen gadget listing might be muted if its main listing image has a messy background or if it has a product that’s too small for the size of the image.
2. Missing or Incomplete Key Product Information: Listings can be suppressed if they lack vital information such as product titles, descriptions, bullet points, or key attributes (like size, color, material). A listing for a smartphone might be suppressed if it doesn’t include essential specifications like storage capacity or screen size.
3. Pricing Errors: If a product is listed with an unrealistic price (either too high or too low), it might trigger suppression. This could happen due to a pricing error where a high-end electronic device is accidentally listed for a few dollars.
4. Violations of Amazon’s Product Safety Guidelines: Products that are deemed unsafe or have been recalled are quickly suppressed. For instance, a toy with small parts that could be a choking hazard for children might be removed if not adequately labeled.
5. Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights: Listings that infringe on trademarks, copyrights, or patents can be suppressed. This includes counterfeit items or unauthorized use of branded elements. A generic product falsely branded as a popular name brand is a typical example.
6. Restricted or Prohibited Products: Selling items that are restricted or banned by Amazon can lead to suppression. For example, listing certain supplements not approved by FDA or electronic items that don’t meet safety standards.
7. Poor Customer Experience Metrics: If a seller has high order defect rates, late shipment rates, or poor customer feedback, their listings might be suppressed. For example, a seller consistently receiving negative reviews due to poor product quality could face suppression of their listings.
8. Use of Prohibited Keywords: Including certain prohibited keywords in the product listing, like claims of a product being a “cure” for a medical condition, can lead to suppression.
9. Other Issues: These may include things like missing product categories, too long listing titles, duplicate listings, etc.

These suppressions often occur without prior warning, compelling sellers to quickly address the issue and regain their listing. This could involve:

• editing the product images
• updating the listing details
• reviewing the supply chain for compliance with safety standards, etc.

Amazon’s aim in suppressing listings is to maintain a high standard for the products on its platform and to ensure a safe, reliable shopping experience for customers.

How to Fix Suppressed Listings on Amazon

Here are some of the signs that your Amazon listing may be suppressed:

• Your listing is not appearing in search results
• You are not receiving any sales for the product
• You are receiving messages from Amazon about potential policy violations.

If you think your Amazon listing is suppressed, you can check for suppression in Seller Central. To do this, go to Inventory > Manage Inventory > Search Suppressed and Inactive Listings. Then, download the Suppressed Listings report.

Once you have identified the reason for your suppressed listing, you can take steps to fix it. For example, if your listing is violating a policy, you will need to update the listing to comply with Amazon’s guidelines. If your listing is being suppressed due to technical issues, you will need to contact Amazon support to resolve the issue.

Anyhow, to fix a suppressed listing, you can take one of the following routes:

• Go to the “Issued(s) to Fix” column in the “Product Image Requirements” page and type in the missing values in editable cells or select the missing values from the drop-down list. Then, click on the “Save” button.
• If you can’t fix the suppressed listings using the editable grid, click on the “Edit” button and go to the “Edit product info” page. Here, you’ll see highlighted missing product details and an informational message about the issue.

If the issue isn’t related to images, type in the missing value and click on “Save and Finish” to end the process. To fix an issue that’s related to images, follow the guidelines on the “Products” page and upload the valid product images accordingly.

How to Prevent Amazon Listings from Suppression

Here are some tips for preventing your Amazon listings from being suppressed:

• Adhere to Amazon’s policies: Make sure that your listings are accurate, complete, and compliant with all of Amazon’s policies.
• Look out for your Amazon Health Rating (AHR): Recurringly check your AHR in Seller Central. If your AHR is low, Amazon may send you notifications or warnings.
• Use high-quality product images: Your product images should be clear, well-lit, and of high resolution.
• Write a detailed product description: Your product description should be informative and accurate.
• Manage your seller ratings: Respond to customer reviews promptly and professionally.
• Price your products competitively: Make sure that your prices are competitive with other listings on the platform.
• Use third-party Amazon seller reporting tools: Try out different Amazon listing alert tools like AmzMonitor, Seller Sonar, etc. and choose the one that fits you.

Mastering the Art of Avoiding Amazon Listing Suppression

As we’ve explored in this detailed guide, suppressed listings on Amazon can significantly impact sellers by hindering visibility, affecting sales, and potentially damaging the reputation of your brand. Understanding the reasons behind listing suppression and proactively taking steps to avoid these issues is key to maintaining a healthy and thriving presence in this massive marketplace.

Remember, the journey to mastering Amazon’s platform is ongoing. Staying updated with Amazon’s policies, regularly auditing your listings for compliance, and swiftly addressing any issues that arise are crucial steps in ensuring your listings remain active and visible to your potential customers.

Happy Selling!