Amazon Australia Changes Description in HTML, is Launch Now Imminent?
Amazon Australia has changed the description of its website in the HTML. Previously, the site served up META data that stated:
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<meta name=”description” content=”Online shopping for Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Fire HDX, New Kindle Books, Kindle Daily Deal, Free App of the Day from the Appstore for Android, Cloud Drive and Audible.”>
We were able to confirm that the above description was still used on November 26, by looking at the source HTML for amazon.com.au on archive.org.
https://web.archive.org/web/20171126033734/http://www.amazon.com.au/
With the above link, when you click on the source code for the HTML in your browser, you see the old description.
However, go to amazon.com.au today, and the META description has changed. It now shows:
<meta name=”description” content=”Shop online for Electronics, Computers, Clothing, Shoes, Toys, Books, DVDs, Sporting Goods, Beauty & more.“>
Other METAdata, such as the Title and Open Graph description also changed to include the updated description for the store. The company did not update the Keyword METAdata, but that might be an oversight.
We are not sure when this exactly changed, but noticed the change this morning in a Google search. But since Archive.org confirms the old META information, it must have been sometime last week.
Here is the full METAdata we found today on amazon.com.au
As many of you know, we have been trying to get an idea of when Amazon Australia may actually open up the store beyond books and digital products.
Some seller had been told the company would launch by Black Friday and it seems a few select sellers had some merchandise visible on amazon.com.au since then.
But there was no wholesale change to the site and sellers reported issues with adding products or receiving orders. For the average shopper, nothing really changed on amazon.com.au.
And new reports emerged claiming the issues might delay the full launch for up to six weeks. Presumably, the basis of those reports assumed Amazon might wait past the heavy holiday shopping dates if there was no quick fix to whatever slowed this launch.
Now we have this bit of news. An update to the HTML description made between November 26 and now. Does it mean anything? Or is it just some strange coincidence?
What is your thought on Amazon Australia’s launch woes? Drop us a line in the comments section below.
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Richard Meldner
Richard is co-founder of eSeller365. He has over 17 years of experience on eBay which includes tens of thousands of sales to buyers in over 100 countries and even has experience with eBay’s VeRO program enforcing intellectual property rights for a former employer. And for about two years Richard sold products on Amazon using Amazon FBA in the US.
To “relax” from the daily business grind, for a few weekends a year, he also works for IMSA as a professional race official.