TL; DR

Effective Thursday August 15th, Amazon are going to enforce their new bullet point requirements, and "remove non-compliant content and use AI to generate compliant, high-quality bullet points" (official announcement) Amazon's new bullet requirements include:

- Banning special characters, emojis, specific phrases, guarantees, or repetitiveness.

- Between 10 and 255 characters in length - Highlight how the product meets the customer's needs, rather than just listing fact

- "Clear, natural language" and "avoid stuffing in unnecessary keywords or phrases"

Full Official Announcement:

Effective August, 15, 2024, we're updating our existing product bullet point requirements to simplify and enhance product detail pages for customers. Key changes include the following:

- Restriction of special characters, emojis, and some phrases, such as refund-related guarantees.

- Guidance to help you create high-quality bullet points that are clear and concise.

- These updates will help customers quickly compare products and determine whether an item meets their needs. Standardized bullet points enable customers to easily find and assess the key features and benefits, and they empower customers to make informed purchase decisions.

In addition to our existing review processes, we'll use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to help us optimize listing quality. We'll remove non-compliant content and use AI to generate compliant, high-quality bullet points. We'll share any AI-generated quality-related improvements with you for review before we publish them to your listings.

New Product bullet points requirements

Bullet points highlight the five main features and benefits you want customers to know about your products. Bullet points help customers quickly understand if the product is right for them.

Do not include below information. Bullet points with below information will be removed or updated:

• Special characters such as ™, ®, €, …, †, ‡, o, ¢, £, ¥, ©, ±, ~, â
• Any emojis such as ☺, ☹, ✅, ❌
• ASIN number or "not applicable" or "NA" or "n/a" or "N/A", "not eligible", "yet to decide", "to be decided", "TBD", "COPY PENDING"
• Prohibited phrases such as eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, ecologically friendly, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial, Made from Bamboo, contains Bamboo, Made from Soy or contains Soy. For more information, go to General Listing Restrictions
• Prohibited guarantee information such as "Full refund" or "If not satisfied, send it back" or "Unconditional guarantee with no limit"
• Company information, website links, external hyperlinks or any contact
• Repetition in bullet points. Each bullet point must mention unique product information
• Include at least three bullet points

Writing guidelines for high-quality bullet points:

• Begin with a capital letter
• Be formatted as a sentence fragment; don't use end punctuation
• Use semicolons to separate phrases; within a single bullet point
• Use more than 10 characters but less than 255 characters
• Write numbers one to nine in full, excluding names, model numbers, and measurements
• Add header to bullet point and use ":" as separator before providing complete information
• Include a space between a digit and a measurement (for example, 60 ml)
• Use clear, natural language in the bullet points, avoid stuffing in unnecessary keywords or phrases
• Highlight product features and benefits, not the brand’s marketing story
• Highlight how the product meets the customer needs, rather than just listing fact
• Maintain data consistency across product variants
• Do not divert or refer to other products not included under this ASIN
• Remove or minimize duplication across attributes such as title, product description or product overview. Highlight additional or supporting information to help the customer make a more informed decision
• Avoid any subjective, performance, or comparative claims, unless they are verifiable on the product packaging. Do not compare your product to competitor brands
• Avoid claims relating to accolades and awards, unless the product detail page contains supporting details, such as date and awarding body
• Avoid claims about the results of consumer surveys, even if the survey collected subjective opinions, unless substantiated with the source and date

Example of high-quality bullet points:

• Cotton Fabric: Made from 100% cotton for softness and breathability
• Long Sleeve: Long sleeves add coverage and style
• Loose Fit: Relaxed fit allows for easy movement and comfort
• Machine Washable: Durable construction allows for easy care
• Versatile Style: Perfect for dance practice, playtime, or outdoor activity

Conclusion

These changes signal a full rollout of COSMO, Amazon's new Common Sense Search Algorithm. You can read more about what COSMO is here. To update your bullet points for compliant at scale, and optimize your listings for COSMO and Amazon RUFUS while you are at it, use the pre-eminent AI tool for ecommerce and most advanced Amazon Listing Software Ecomtent.

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