I'm not entirely sold that it's entirely on purpose, but that's a high bar, and I don't doubt perverse incentives play a role in some way.
It feels like Amazon is missing the boat by not using their market position to institute some sort of manufacturer's vouching system, where sellers could try to achieve some verified status (for a specific item), and that could be used to good effect.
Reply-All just did another podcast on Amazon weirdness[1], where listing hijacking was explained. In short, since Amazon will collapse identical items into a group, and within that group show in some order (maybe by price), people can get knockoff items identified as real items (even if it's just one guy selling his own stuff he manufacturers), and their knockoffs will affect the impression people have of the product and be listed higher if it's cheaper.
It feels like Amazon is missing the boat by not using their market position to institute some sort of manufacturer's vouching system, where sellers could try to achieve some verified status (for a specific item), and that could be used to good effect.
Reply-All just did another podcast on Amazon weirdness[1], where listing hijacking was explained. In short, since Amazon will collapse identical items into a group, and within that group show in some order (maybe by price), people can get knockoff items identified as real items (even if it's just one guy selling his own stuff he manufacturers), and their knockoffs will affect the impression people have of the product and be listed higher if it's cheaper.
1: https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/124#episode-player