Thread by @ryan_caldbeck

Truly fantastic piece @zackkanter -thank you for putting it out.
Loved:
-similarities and differences w/ Walmart
-importance of external customers for all products
-criticism of ranking algo and ads

IMO the ads point is particularly powerful when considering consumer tastes are proliferating and the ads issue gives the power to those brands which are great at advertising (tends to be largest ones).

In an era where they should own the macro trend towards small brands, Amazon's ads are hurting themselves and the consumer. It is reversing the clock on the offline trend of moving away from slotting (slotting makes life harder for smaller brands).

Also loved the suggestion to limit reviews to just last [6] months: "competing against 5 years of accumulated reviews, a new entrant would only need to compete against the most recent ones that were given over the past six months."

Good stuff @zackkanter

@zackkanter now with the link 😀

zackkanter.com/2019/03/13/wha…