Amazon Restricted Keyword List: Protect Your Listings from Removal

Diana_Segura | December 17, 2024

There’s hardly anything more frustrating for an Amazon seller than having a listing removed over a single term. It’s a small detail with a significant impact, and the consequences can significantly harm sales. To avoid these kinds of situations and keep your listings compliant, prevention is the best defense. Knowing which terms are off-limits can make all the difference in protecting your listings from unnecessary removals.

Amazon enforces strict, customer-first policies prioritizing a positive shopping experience above all else. Restricting specific keywords and claims protects customers from misleading or exaggerated information that could lead to disappointment, dissatisfaction, or even harm. By limiting terms that could be misleading, Amazon helps make sure that customers get clear and trustworthy information about products. This focus on accuracy creates a safer shopping experience and strengthens the platform’s credibility, allowing sellers to compete fairly and helping customers feel confident in their purchasing decisions.

Know Your Product Category

Restricted keywords can vary significantly across Amazon’s product categories, so a thorough understanding of your specific niche is essential. While memorizing every restricted term isn’t realistic, familiarizing yourself with the types of claims and terms typically restricted in your category can help you avoid trouble. Reviewing the prohibited listings within your category can provide valuable insights, especially since even indirect references to restricted products or terms could cause Amazon’s algorithm to flag your listing. Taking time to know your category’s unique restrictions enables you to make informed choices and helps ensure your listings remain compliant and visible.

Keep an Eye on Competitors

A great way to spot potentially problematic keywords is by regularly reviewing your competitors’ listings. If certain high-search terms are missing from the top-performing listings in your category, this might be a red flag. Competitors may be avoiding these terms for good reason, so following their lead can help you avoid unnecessary risks. Consistent keyword research also gives you a clearer picture of the current trends and restricted terms within your category, helping you keep your listings compliant and competitive.

Explore Amazon’s Help Pages

While navigating Amazon’s Seller Central can sometimes feel overwhelming, exploring the help pages is well worth the effort. These pages offer valuable guidelines on restricted keywords and claims specific to different categories. Although Amazon’s examples can be limited, they still give you a sense of what the platform considers problematic. By diving into these resources, you can gather insights into the types of words or phrases that might lead to listing removals. Collecting information from various help sections will help you build a clearer picture of what’s acceptable in your category, giving you a stronger foundation to create compliant, effective listings that minimize the risk of being flagged.

Keep a Document of Restricted Keywords

Creating a “living document” of restricted keywords for your product category is an excellent way to manage compliance proactively. Start by listing any restricted terms you know of and continuously update it whenever a new term comes up. If one of your listings is suppressed due to a restricted keyword, it’s always wise to reach out to Amazon support to clarify which specific term triggered the removal. Use these experiences as learning opportunities: document the exact words or phrases that caused the issue and add them to your list. Over time, this record will become an invaluable resource, helping you avoid repeated mistakes and saving time by ensuring future listings remain compliant. Not only does this help protect your listings from unnecessary disruptions, but it also keeps your team informed and up-to-date on the latest restrictions within your category.

AI Tools for Detecting Problematic Keywords

AI tools can be handy for scanning your content and identifying any potentially restricted terms before you publish a listing. By keeping an updated document of known restricted keywords, you can harness AI to cross-check your listings for compliance and detect any non-compliant language that might slip through. With a carefully crafted prompt, these tools can even suggest alternative terms or phrases that capture your intended message while remaining compliant with Amazon’s guidelines. This approach saves time by automating the keyword-checking process and allows you to make real-time adjustments to your content, ensuring your listings meet Amazon’s standards without sacrificing the impact of your messaging.

Don’t Overlook Backend Keywords

It’s easy to assume that because backend keywords are hidden from customers, Amazon is less strictly monitoring them, but this is far from the truth. These search terms, often placed in the backend, play a crucial role in helping Amazon’s algorithm understand your product and connect it with relevant searches. While using backend keywords is a great way to reach a broader audience by tapping into alternative search terms, they’re still subject to Amazon’s content policies and restrictions.

Amazon monitors backend keywords just as carefully as any other part of your listing. This means that prohibited terms, misleading claims, or restricted phrases will raise red flags, even if they aren’t customer-facing.