Amazon informed sellers they will no longer support HTML in product descriptions. It cited security concerns “as well as versatility to list products on non-HTML devices.”
The announcement resulted in consternation and calls for clarification from sellers.
The crux of the announcement was as follows:
“Any product description containing HTML tags in the product detail page which are not supported after July 17, 2021, will stop showing HTML formatting. For example, if you use HTML tags in one line of a product description, the line might be removed or shown without HTML formatting, depending on the usage of the tag.”
A seller who lists in the Handmade section of Amazon was especially concerned, reporting that until recently, the only way to format descriptions was to use HTML. “Major nightmare for us to have to edit all of these listings,” they said.
Another seller agreed – “There needs to be an exception for handmade, or a better way to make the listings readable,” they wrote.
Some sellers cheered the move, some of them cracking wise about sellers who used emojis. “Does Blink still work,” one asked.
You can find the announcement and sellers’ response on Amazon Seller Central.
