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Keywords are prohibited in the book description - how zero-tolerant is Amazon?

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Tom Wood:
According to this help page:

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G201097560


--- Quote ---Description
...

We prohibit including any of the items below in your description:

Pornographic, obscene, or offensive content
Phone numbers, physical mail addresses, email addresses, or website URLs
Availability, price, alternative ordering information (such as links to other websites for placing orders)
Time-sensitive information (e.g., dates of promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
Any keywords or tags
--- End quote ---
My emphasis

I want to use 'virtual reality' and 'game' as keywords in my Category keyword entries. They will also show up as a natural part of the text in the description. Is Amazon really that rigorous with prohibiting words that show up in both places?

Simon Haynes:
If you look at many of the listings on Google Books, you'll see people have a line of keywords/tags after the description. E.g.

keywords: funny scifi, scifi series, etc, etc.

It's blatant there, and allowed by the TOS as long as you don't go overboard.  At KDP, it's forbidden.

I would suggest that's what they're trying to stamp out. Not the natural use of keywords within the description itself.

AmHere:
I've had no problems using keywords as a natural part of the text in the description on Amazon.

I've also seen descriptions with a line of keywords on Amazon.

Post-Crisis D:
As others suggested, I think what they're prohibiting is listing keywords in the description.

It would lead to some rather strange descriptions if you couldn't use keywords naturally in the text.  For example, if you have "vampires" as a keyword, how woud you describe your book to people that want to read about vampires without mentioning the keyword in the description?

"When John wakes up to find he's been turned into an undead, bloodsucking creature of the night, he must quickly adapt to his new nocturnal life while avoiding his newfound stalker, a legendary hunter of undead, bloodsucking creatures of the night."

And then readers would be like, ugh, why can't this author just call them vampires?  I bet the writing stinks . . .  Next!

Tom Wood:
Yeah, the vampire example is a good one. But when they use such an absolute exclusion like any keywords or tags, it makes you think they really mean it!

As a follow on - I've read that Amazon is not too keen on the inclusion of the names of other authors and their book titles in your own books' descriptions. Yet, that isn't mentioned in the rules. Has anyone used the names of other authors and their book titles in your own books' descriptions? Any troubles with that?

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