Keyword cannibalisation on otto.de: when your own products compete for the same search term

What really happens on otto.de

The search on otto.de shows every matching product page for a term. If you have five box spring beds in 180x200 that differ only in fabric or firmness, all five can appear. At first that is more visibility. The problem starts when shoppers have to choose between your products and the clicks and purchases spread out: none of the five collects enough demand to sit at the top, while a competitor with one product and pooled demand ranks ahead of all five.

Several of your own products for one term are therefore not automatically bad. They are bad when the best of them ranks weaker because of it than it could on its own.

How to spot cannibalisation in tracking

• A search term is tracked on three or more of your products and all sit in the middle (pages 2 to 4), none on page 1.
• The positions move in opposite directions: product A rises, product B falls in the same week. Demand wanders between your products instead of coming to you.
• In the controlling report the term's revenue is spread over several items without one dominating.
• The search results page shows your products with identical titles and similar images directly beneath each other.

A tracker that lists positions per search term across all products shows this at a glance. Without tracking it is rarely noticed, because each product looked at alone sits "somewhere on page 2".

The most common cause: variations as separate products

On otto.de the variations of a product belong on one shared product page, linked through the product reference in OTTO Partner Connect. If sizes, colours or versions are created as separate products instead, they compete with each other for every term. Merging them into one page with a variation selector resolves the cannibalisation and pools reviews and demand on one page.

Before merging, check whether the variations have separate search terms with their own volume. If so, a separate page for the biggest variation can remain sensible.

Assign one main product per search term

1. List every term that is tracked on more than one product.
2. For each term choose the product with the best mix of position, revenue and reviews as the main product.
3. Keep the term in the main product's title and point the other products' titles at their distinguishing features: "box spring bed 180x200 with storage", "box spring bed 180x200 velvet", "box spring bed 180x200 firmness H4".
4. Give the other products their own search terms in tracking, matching their features.
5. Measure for three to four weeks. The main product should rise, the others become visible for their new terms.

When to leave it alone

If your products hold positions 1, 2 and 3 for a term, that is not cannibalisation but dominance. Leave it. The same applies when the products are clearly different for shoppers (single bed and double bed) and only happen to hit the same term. Intervening only pays when the best of your products is held back by its own siblings.

Frequently asked questions