The Ranking Rules Just Changed (And Most Sellers Missed It)
You’ve noticed it, haven’t you? Products with fewer reviews suddenly outranking yours. Listings you’ve optimized to perfection stuck on page three. Your PPC spend climbing while organic visibility tanks.
Welcome to the A10 era. Amazon rolled out a fundamental shift in how products rank, moving from the A9 algorithm to A10 Intero Digital—and if you’re still playing by the old rules, you’re already behind. The biggest change? External traffic now impacts your Amazon ranking directly. Intero Digital That’s not a typo. The traffic you bring from Instagram, Google, or your email list now determines where you rank in Amazon search results.
This isn’t just another algorithm tweak. It’s a complete rewrite of how Amazon decides which products deserve visibility—and which sellers get left behind.
What Actually Changed: A9 vs. A10
Let’s cut through the noise and focus on what matters for your business.
The Old Way (A9 Algorithm)
Amazon’s A9 algorithm focused primarily on internal Amazon metrics Shimmr. Sales velocity ruled everything. More sales meant better rankings, creating a simple but brutal feedback loop. Your PPC budget determined your visibility, and Amazon kept the entire game inside its own walls.
The A9 system analyzed product titles, descriptions, reviews, ratings, and sales volume to determine search result rankings. AmzScout Keyword relevance mattered, but mostly within Amazon’s ecosystem. Drive sales, optimize listings, run ads, repeat.
The New Reality (A10 Algorithm)
A10 has shifted ranking factors to prioritize organic engagement and external traffic over paid advertising, placing substantial emphasis on traffic sources from outside the platform including social media, blogs, and search engines. SellerlabsShimmr
Here’s what changed:
External Traffic Is Now a Major Ranking Signal: Products receiving visits from social media platforms, blogs, websites, and other external sources are rewarded with higher search rankings. Shimmr Amazon wants you to bring customers to the platform, not just compete for the ones already there.
Organic Sales Matter More Than PPC: A10 shifts focus toward organic sales and authentic customer engagement, though paid advertising remains important for initial visibility and momentum. Shimmr Throwing money at Sponsored Products won’t save you anymore.
Customer Engagement Gets Analyzed Deeply: A10 introduces sophisticated customer engagement analysis, examining click-through rates, time on page, scroll depth, and image engagement. Shimmr Amazon tracks how shoppers interact with your listing, not just whether they buy.
Seller Authority Carries Weight: A10 significantly elevates seller authority importance, considering account health, fulfillment performance, customer service metrics, and return rates. Shimmr
Why This Matters for Your Bottom Line
Think about what this means practically. Your competitor with half your review count could outrank you if they’re driving traffic from TikTok or Google Ads. That perfectly optimized listing you spent weeks on? It’s only half the battle now.
The days of relying solely on Amazon’s internal ecosystem are over. Intero Digital Your success on Amazon is now directly tied to your ability to drive traffic from outside platforms—Meta Ads, TikTok campaigns, influencer partnerships, email marketing, and even SEO.
The 3 Steps You Need to Take Right Now
Forget the 47-point optimization checklist. Here’s what actually moves the needle in 2025.
Step 1: Set Up Amazon Attribution Immediately
Amazon Attribution is a free measurement and analytics tool that tracks how external marketing efforts—like social, search, and email—drive sales on Amazon, available for Amazon Brand Registry sellers, vendors, and agencies. Saras
Why you can’t skip this: Before Attribution, driving external traffic was like shooting in the dark. You couldn’t tell which Facebook ad or Google campaign actually converted. Amazon Attribution is the only way to see exactly how many sales, purchases, and add-to-carts resulted from your off-Amazon marketing efforts. LandingCube
How to set it up:
Amazon Attribution works by assigning unique tracking tags to your marketing efforts outside the Amazon ecosystem, which are appended to links you share on social media or email marketing campaigns. Adbrew When a customer clicks a tagged link and lands on your Amazon page, Attribution tracks their behavior using a 14-day last-touch model, crediting the final clicked ad before purchase, and provides metrics including impressions, clicks, detail page views, add-to-carts, and total purchases. PatternSaras
Access it through your Seller Central account under the Advertising tab. Create unique tracking tags for each traffic source—one for Facebook, one for Google Ads, one for email campaigns. This granular tracking tells you exactly which channels deserve more budget.
Bonus: Amazon’s Brand Referral Bonus program rewards sellers with approximately 10% rebate on sales driven through external traffic measured by Amazon Attribution, with the bonus varying by product category and ranging from approximately 7% to 11%. BrandVergeCarbon6 You’re literally getting paid to bring customers to Amazon.
Step 2: Launch One External Traffic Channel This Month
Don’t try to master every platform. Pick one channel where your customers actually spend time and go deep.
Google Ads for High-Intent Traffic
Google Ads provides a powerful avenue to capture high-intent traffic by targeting consumers actively searching for products in your category, focusing on non-branded keywords that demonstrate purchase intent rather than just awareness. BrandVerge
Start with product-specific keywords like “best stainless steel water bottle” or “organic dog treats grain free.” These searchers are ready to buy. For high-ticket items like $200 home appliances, Google Ads can be particularly effective since advertising costs don’t scale with product price. Carbon6
TikTok & Instagram for Visual Products
Social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are excellent for engaging potential customers, with influencer collaborations showcasing your product to their audience. Carbon6
Find micro-influencers (10K-50K followers) in your niche. They’re affordable, engaged, and their audiences actually convert. Give them your Amazon Attribution link and track every sale.
Email Marketing for Repeat Buyers
Email marketing is a powerful tool for retargeting previous customers and driving traffic to new or underperforming listings, with announcing promotions or product launches through your email list leading to immediate sales spikes. Carbon6
Already have customers? Email them about new products or special promotions with your Attribution link. This traffic is gold—high conversion rates and Amazon rewards you with better rankings.
Step 3: Optimize Your Listing for External Traffic Conversions
External traffic only helps if it converts. Ensuring product listings convert well and highlight relevant information gives shoppers a better experience, and as Amazon optimizes to organically show the best products, relevancy and conversion are large factors in determining rank. Pattern
Fix your images first: External traffic often comes from visual platforms. Your main image needs to stop the scroll. Show the product in use, highlight the key benefit, make it instantly clear why someone should click.
Rewrite your bullets for skeptical buyers: Focus on benefits, not just features, explaining how your product solves a problem or improves life using simple language and short sentences. Pro Seller Marketing External traffic is colder than Amazon search traffic—they need more convincing.
Load up social proof: Positive reviews, high star ratings, and review velocity remain significant factors in search visibility and conversion rates. Shimmr Chase those reviews legitimately. Use Amazon’s “Request a Review” button within 30 days of every order.
What Not to Do (Common Mistakes Killing Rankings)
Keyword Stuffing Your Listings: Amazon now deprioritizes descriptions or subtitles packed with awkward, repeated keywords. Writersandpublishersnetwork Keyword stuffing triggers listing suppression or algorithm penalties. Margin Business Write for humans first, algorithms second.
Relying Only on PPC: Over-relying on ads drives sales but doesn’t directly boost rankings the way organic sales do, with A10 placing less emphasis on paid advertising. SellerlabsShimmr PPC is the match that lights the fire. External traffic and organic sales keep it burning.
Ignoring External Traffic Completely: Neglecting external traffic sources hurts rankings because Amazon prioritizes off-platform traffic. Sellerlabs Your competitors are already doing this. If you’re not, you’re falling behind daily.
Your 30-Day Action Plan
Week 1: Set up Amazon Attribution. Create tracking tags for your top 3 products and your primary external traffic source.
Week 2: Launch one external traffic campaign. Start small—$10-20/day on Google Ads or partner with one micro-influencer.
Week 3: Optimize your top 3 listings based on the traffic you’re sending. Fix images, rewrite bullets, chase reviews.
Week 4: Analyze your Attribution data. Which channel converted best? Double down there. Which product performed best? Send more traffic to it.
Then repeat. Scale what works, cut what doesn’t, and keep bringing customers to Amazon from the outside.
Insights & Updates for Smart Amazon Sellers
Common Questions About Amazon’s A10 Algorithm
When did Amazon switch from A9 to A10?
Amazon quietly rolled out the A10 algorithm update in May 2025, replacing the long-standing A9 system. Writersandpublishersnetwork The transition wasn’t announced with fanfare, which is why many sellers missed it initially. If you’ve noticed ranking changes or increased competition in 2025, this is why.
Do I need Brand Registry to use Amazon Attribution?
Amazon Attribution is available for Amazon Brand Registry sellers, vendors, and agencies with access to Amazon marketplaces Saras in the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico. If you’re not enrolled in Brand Registry yet, that should be your first priority—it unlocks Attribution and several other critical tools.
How much should I spend on external traffic?
Start small. Test with $10-20 per day on one channel before scaling. The key is finding what converts, not spending big immediately. For high-ticket items like $200 home appliances, advertising costs don’t scale with product price Carbon6, making external traffic particularly cost-effective. Track everything through Attribution, then double down on channels with the best ROAS.
Does external traffic work for new products with no reviews?
Yes, but combine it with Amazon’s Early Reviewer Program or Vine if you qualify. External traffic helps with initial visibility and ranking momentum, but conversion still depends on social proof. Launch external campaigns alongside a strategy to accumulate your first 15-25 reviews quickly.
Will my PPC campaigns stop working with A10?
Paid advertising remains important for initial visibility and momentum under A10 Shimmr, but it’s no longer the only game in town. Think of PPC as your base layer for visibility, then stack external traffic on top for ranking boosts. The sellers winning in 2025 use both strategically.
How long does it take to see ranking improvements from external traffic?
Most sellers report seeing movement within 2-4 weeks of consistent external traffic. Amazon’s algorithm analyzes engagement metrics including click-through rates, time on page, and scroll depth Shimmr, so quality traffic matters more than volume. Send 50 highly-targeted visitors who convert better than 500 random clicks.
Can I use Amazon Associates links instead of Attribution tags?
You could, but you’d be leaving money on the table. Associates links only show what customers bought, not their behavior before conversion. Amazon Attribution provides much more efficient and effective tracking than Associates links LandingCube, plus you can’t earn the Brand Referral Bonus without proper Attribution setup.
What’s the best external traffic source to start with?
It depends on your product and audience. Google Ads captures consumers actively searching for products in your category BrandVerge, making it ideal for high-intent traffic. Social media works better for visual, lifestyle products. Email marketing converts best if you already have a customer list. Start where your customers already are.
Key Takeaways
- The algorithm fundamentally changed: A10 made external traffic a major ranking signal, replacing A9’s focus on internal Amazon-only metrics. Intero Digital Sellers who bring traffic to Amazon get rewarded with better organic rankings.
- Attribution is your competitive advantage: Amazon Attribution is essential for optimizing digital marketing campaigns by showing exactly which external efforts drive sales. LandingCube Set it up before spending another dollar on external ads.
- Start with one channel: Pick Google Ads, social media, or email marketing. Master one external traffic source before expanding. Understanding when and how to leverage each traffic source allows brands to maximize Amazon sales. BrandVerge
- External traffic earns you money twice: The Brand Referral Bonus rewards sellers with a 10% rebate on sales driven through external traffic. Carbon6 You boost rankings and get paid extra for bringing customers to Amazon.
The sellers winning on Amazon in 2025 aren’t just optimizing listings—they’re building traffic systems outside Amazon’s walls. The algorithm changed. Your strategy needs to change with it.