This topic contains frequently asked questions about search results, plus information on categories.

• Search Results FAQs
  • Why is the wrong edition showing up when I search for my book?
  • Why doesn't my book appear in the search results?
  • Why isn't my book showing up as the Number 1 search result?
• Categories

Search Results FAQs

Why is the wrong edition showing up when I search for my book?

In order to show our customers more choices in their search results, we typically display only one edition of each book on the Search Results page. The edition is chosen based on a set of business rules designed to provide the best customer experience. For example, newer editions are generally preferred over older editions. Occasionally, our system experiences delays in obtaining the latest data about each edition, which may result in another edition being displayed temporarily.

If you have further questions about the edition of your book that is appearing in Search Results, contact us.

On the Contact Us form:

1. Under "Select an issue," select My Books.
2. Under "Select details," select Update information about a book.
3. In the fields that appear, select Update something else, and then I want to update search results for my book or for my name.
4. Tell us the reasons that the book currently appearing is not the best one for your customers.

Why doesn't my book appear in the search results?

If your search query consists of common words or names, there may be many other items that match, so your book might not appear on the first page or even the first few pages of results. This is especially true if you are searching on the Amazon.com home page and have not restricted your search to Books. The home page search includes just the top few results from each product category. Search results should always display the assigned ISBN or ASIN. When the name searched for under Books matches the name on an Author page, the search results display a link to the Author Page.

The best way to search for your item is to use the Advanced Search form in Books.

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Why isn't my book showing up as the Number 1 search result?

Search results are sorted by relevance, and the relevance ranking function uses many different elements to determine the best matches for customers' queries. If you are searching by title, there may be similar titles that are more popular or that score more highly than your book.

Search results change constantly, based on several factors. Though we cannot manually alter search results, we can suggest ways you can optimize them.

Tips for Optimizing Your Book’s Search Results:

1. Sign up for Search Inside the Book.
2. Remember that your book is competing against other items that are being promoted in many media outlets. You can post a link to your book’s detail page on your Facebook and Twitter accounts and in your e-mail signature. General consumer data on how popular your item is will influence search result relevance.
3. If the book's subtitle is concise and subject-relevant, add that to the title. To do this, click on Books tab on your Author Central page and select the book. Then:
   1. Click Suggest Product Information Updates and add your subtitle to the Title Field under “Suggest Changes.”
   2. Enter the reason are suggesting the change.
      • If the subtitle appears on the book’s cover in “Product Image,” select The Amazon product page contains information that verifies this change.
      • If there is no product image and you have an eStore, include a link to your eStore and selectThe publisher’s website verifies my changes.
      • If there is no product image and you do not have an eStore, link to another reputable website that contains documentation of your title and select There are other websites that verify my changes.
   3. Preview and confirm your suggestions. If accepted, your changes will appear in 1 to 3 days.

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Categories

Categories can help readers find your book more easily.

Categories

• You can view the Categories that a book is listed in by scrolling to the bottom of the Product Detail Page to the section titled "Look for Similar Items by Category." 
• Browse paths are listed in this format:
  • Books > Travel > Africa > Morocco
  • Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Single Women Literature 
• We generally limit the number of assigned browse categories to two for each title. When data from publisher feeds is automatically added to a Product Detail Page, it sometimes results in more than two assigned browse paths. We are unable to add more than two categories to the Product Detail Page for a book. You're welcome to change the existing categories for your title. 
• To change the browse categories currently assigned to your book, first take some time to peruse the categories in the "Books" section of our store. Once you've found the two categories you like, pleasecontact us.

  On the Contact Us form:

  1. Under "Select an issue," select My Books.
  2. Under "Select details," select Update information about a book.
  3. In the fields that appear, select browse categories, and then I want browse categories in the Product Details section.

  We'll ask for the book's ASIN and which browse paths you would like replaced with new categories.