Overview

On December 17, Amazon rolled out a series of updates that touch every third‑party seller on the marketplace. The most immediate shift disables the public “Add a comment” button on customer reviews, a feature that vanished on December 16. At the same time, Amazon published a 2020 year‑end recap that highlights record holiday sales, new fulfillment options, and a stronger sustainability agenda. Finally, the advertising platform gained two fresh Sponsored Brand metrics—Impression Share and Top‑of‑Search Rate—giving sellers deeper insight into campaign performance. Understanding these changes is essential for maintaining compliance, protecting brand reputation, and fine‑tuning advertising spend as sellers head into 2021.

Key Points

• Public review comments removed — Effective December 16, sellers can no longer post visible replies to buyer reviews, ending a long‑standing channel for public brand communication.
• Seller community reaction — Forum discussions across Seller Central and independent groups show widespread frustration, with many merchants fearing a loss of transparency and a harder time managing reputation.
• 2020 Marketplace summary — Amazon’s recap notes a 45 % jump in holiday sales versus 2019, the launch of “Amazon Fresh” in new regions, and a pledge to achieve net‑zero carbon by 2040.
• New Sponsored Brand data points — “Impression Share” now shows the proportion of total eligible impressions captured, while “Top‑of‑Search Rate” measures how often ads appear in the premium placement at the top of the search results page.
• Policy permanence indicated — Amazon signaled that the review‑comment ban will stay in place for the foreseeable future, with any modifications communicated through Seller Central alerts.
• Guidance for handling negative feedback — A step‑by‑step playbook has been added to the seller support portal, directing sellers to private messaging and the “Request a Review” tool as the primary methods for post‑purchase outreach.

How the Review Comment Restriction Works

1. Policy activation — On December 16, Amazon automatically greyed out the “Add a comment” option on every product detail page for third‑party sellers.