Finding your best converting search terms and targeting them as keywords (called “ACoS Scraping”) is a cornerstone tactic. While it is an important strategy, it is often a confusing one.
So…
What’s the point of ACoS Scraping?
Having a keyword that has, at some point, connected to a search term, does not reap the same benefits as targeting that search term as a keyword directly.
A keyword connecting with a search term in the past doesn't mean you'll always connect to it moving forward. The way to ensure you're proactively going after a winning search term is to bid on it as a keyword. The same can be said for ASINs - they’ll need to be “scraped” into a Product Targeting campaign.
Also, the keyword that had initially connected to the search term may only be vaguely related/similar depending on match type, so it is important to find the specific search terms that work best, based on data, and target them.
Should I Add the Search Term As A Negative After Targeting It As A Keyword?
After years of managing countless accounts and tens of millions of dollars in ad spend, the Amazon experts at Entourage Management Services have come to the conclusion that, no, you don’t need to add the original search term as a negative when setting it up as a keyword elsewhere.
While some sellers are convinced that you must add a search term as a negative keyword if you’re going to target it directly, we just haven’t ever found any evidence that it helps anything.
Amazon fixed the problem of self-competition and “keyword cannibalism” years ago, and there aren’t any current rules or best practices to suggest adding this kind of negative is necessary or even beneficial.
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