Amazon Comparison Chart Images: Own Range vs Competitors

A comparison chart image is not one job, it is three, and they carry very different risk. Comparing inside your own range is safe, and Amazon gives you a native module for it. Comparing against an unnamed "other brands" column is the standard gallery pattern. Naming a competitor is where platform policy, not taste, turns against you. This page separates the three, gives the arithmetic that keeps a chart legible on a phone, and says where each belongs.

Three charts, three risk levels

Sellers say "comparison chart" and mean any of these. Decide which one you are building before you open a design tool: the rules and the placement differ.

The first two are complements. One stops a shopper leaving because your 2 L model is too small; the other stops them opening a competitor tab at all. Most brands with more than one SKU should run both.

What Amazon actually permits about competitors

Two separate rule sets apply, and sellers conflate them constantly.

Gallery images fall under Amazon's product image standards. Text and graphics are allowed on secondary images; the binding constraint is that the image must be accurate and must not mislead. Nothing in the published image standards says "do not name a competitor" in those words. What exists is the accuracy requirement plus Amazon's intellectual property policy, and Seller Central forum answers land consistently in the same place: naming specific competitor products in a comparison graphic is not permitted, and using a competitor's own photograph risks a takedown. One moderator answer notes that buying the item and photographing it yourself would be acceptable. Treat that as a forum answer, not as policy.

Ad creative falls under the Amazon Ads creative acceptance policy, which is explicit where the image standards are not. Amazon Ads states that ads cannot mention competitors by name, and that superiority claims — best, biggest, better than — are rejected unless they can be substantiated. Its moderation guidance extends that evidence requirement to claims appearing on detail pages, headlines and product packaging, not only to the ad copy.

That second point catches people. Run Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display against a listing and your gallery images become ad-adjacent creative, so the stricter regime decides whether the campaign runs. A chart that clears only the looser rule is a chart you cannot advertise behind.

European sellers sometimes counter that naming a competitor is lawful, and they are right about the law. Directive 2006/114/EC, Article 4, permits comparative advertising when it is not misleading, compares goods meeting the same needs, objectively compares material, relevant, verifiable and representative features including price, and neither denigrates nor free-rides on the competitor's marks. It is still against the marketplace's rules, and the marketplace, not the directive, decides whether your ASIN stays live today.

The layout arithmetic that decides legibility

A chart fails on a phone for a reason you can calculate before designing. Amazon requires at least 1,000 px on the longest side for zoom and recommends 1,600 px or more; most sellers work at 2,000 × 2,000 px. In a phone carousel that renders near 350–400 px wide, so everything is downscaled five to six times.

Rows behave the same way. Six rows on a 2,000 px canvas leaves roughly 250 px each once a headline and column heads are allowed for; at carousel scale that is about 45 px, enough for a large tick and a two-word label. Type set at 90 px in the design file renders around 16 px on that phone. That is the floor. Below it, cut a row rather than shrink the type.

The rule that falls out: two or three columns, four to six rows, numbers instead of ticks wherever a number tells the story better ("12 h" beside "4 h" beats two icons), and a headline stating the conclusion so the image still works when the grid does not survive the thumbnail.

Picking rows you can defend

Amazon's substantiation standard is the right filter, because it is the one an ad moderator applies. For each candidate row, ask whether you could produce evidence. Materials, capacity, warranty length, included accessories, certification, cycle counts and tested load are verifiable. "Premium quality", "superior design" and "best on the market" are superiority claims with nothing behind them, and are exactly what gets rejected.

Two further filters. Cut ties: a row where both columns earn a tick spends a slot and persuades nobody. And leave one row where the alternative is genuinely fine. A column that sweeps every line reads as manufactured; a visible concession is the cheapest credibility available.

The own-range chart and its native module

If the comparison is between your own products, Amazon's A+ comparison chart module beats an image, because each column links to the ASIN. Seller-facing documentation puts it at two to six products and one to ten metrics, and Amazon has since restricted A+ submissions to one comparison chart each. Product thumbnails in the module are small, around 150 px square, so use the pack shot there rather than an infographic.

Build a gallery version as well. A+ sits below the fold; the carousel sits above the bullets on mobile. The same six metrics, re-typeset square, cover both surfaces.

How to decide what to build

One SKU, no variants: build the generic two-column chart, four to six substantiated rows, mid-carousel. Several sizes or tiers: build the A+ module first, because variant confusion costs more sales than the category comparison wins. Regulated category: restrict the chart to physical, measurable rows or skip it. Honest criteria leave you ahead on one or two rows: do not build it at all, it advertises the gap. Tempted to name a brand: not on Amazon. That comparison belongs on your own site, where only the law applies.

Common questions

Can I name a competitor brand in an Amazon comparison chart?

Practically, no. Amazon Ads policy states that ads cannot mention competitors by name, and Seller Central guidance on comparison graphics lands in the same place for listing images. Using a competitor's own photograph is a clear violation. The workable pattern is an unnamed column labelled "other brands" or "typical alternative".

Is a comparison chart image different from the A+ comparison module?

Yes, and they do different jobs. The module compares your own products, links each column to an ASIN, needs Brand Registry, and appears below the bullets. The gallery image compares you against the category and appears in the carousel, which sits above the text on mobile. Most multi-SKU brands should run both.

How many rows and columns should a comparison chart have?

Two or three columns and four to six rows. On a 2,000 px canvas rendering near 370 px in a phone carousel, a fourth column drops each cell to roughly 70 px, which supports an icon and nothing else. Cut rows before you shrink type.

What counts as a claim I need to substantiate?

Anything comparative or superlative. Amazon Ads rejects superiority claims such as best, biggest or better than unless they can be demonstrated, and its moderation guidance extends the evidence requirement to claims on detail pages and packaging. Measurable rows — capacity, warranty length, material, certification, tested load — are safe because they are verifiable.

Is naming a competitor legal in Europe?

Under Directive 2006/114/EC, Article 4, comparative advertising naming a competitor is lawful in the EU when it is not misleading, compares like with like, compares material, relevant, verifiable and representative features, and neither denigrates nor free-rides on the competitor's reputation. Amazon's marketplace rules are stricter than that, and the marketplace decides whether your listing stays live.