A founder asked me last week why Amazon wasn't ranking a listing that converted
By Liranhirschkorn · May 20, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
A founder asked me last week why Amazon wasn't ranking a listing that converted above category median.
His campaigns had no exact match coverage. Broad and auto were finding traffic, but Amazon wasn't getting a clear signal about what the listing should rank for.
When you launch on Amazon, ranking depends on two things being true at the same time:
You tell Amazon what to rank you for. Exact match keywords do that. Without them, the algorithm has to guess.
The listing converts above category median. That's how Amazon decides whether to keep ranking you. Below median and the algorithm pulls back, no matter how aggressive your bidding gets.
Either condition without the other goes nowhere. Exact match without category-median CVR means Amazon learns what to rank you for, then sees you can't convert, and stops sending traffic. Category-median CVR without exact match means a converting listing nobody can find by category search.
Get both conditions true before you scale spend. A bigger ad budget on top of one missing condition won't move you.
Check the last 30 days of search terms that have converted. If they aren't in exact match, move them. If your CVR is below category median, work on the listing first. Better images, better price, more reviews, a stronger main hero. Then add ad spend.
A launch needs both conditions true at the same time. Either alone goes nowhere.