Almost same design in multiple shops spamming the search results, is it allowed?

[MaggieA]

I just did a search where almost the same design in multiple different shops with different owners/creators are showing up very high in the search results. Sometimes the only thing that differs is the color of the product it is printed on, sometimes it is a singe word that differs. 

Is this really allowed? What about copyright when the same design is to be found in multiple stores by multiple owners? Not to mention that the same design is spamming the search results, totally dominating.

And how can these results be a priority to show when the shops have no collections, banners or anything? Most new creators work hard to set up a shop, reaching Z4 level to start with, does that not mean anything at all in searches?

I will happily give the search phrase to any moderator so the results can be viewed and not just me trying to explain what I see. 

[Barbara]

Another place this sort of thing is being complained about: https://community.zazzle.com/t5/general-zazzle-discussion/tag-spamming-stuffing/m-p/159331

Colorwash's Home

[CreativeLeahG]

If the designs are different, there is nothing wrong in it. If they're exact copies then it's duplication which isn't permitted.

A designer may post variations to different stores to keep those stores 'alive' because they may not have time to update them all. Lots of reasons to post to different stores (non nefarious) but always with different not identical designs. 

[MaggieA]

But why then are they totally dominating this search, page up and page down, if they have not taken all the steps to reach Z4? Why do they even show in the marketplace before that? I was stupid enough to believe that we were doing all that stuff to prove that I am taking this serious, therefore willing to put in the extra work to reach Z rank 4.

[CreativeLeahG]

Why do you assume they're not a z4? I have no idea what their reasons are, or why they rank higher than whatever you're expecting to see. But if they're not exact duplicates, they're not breaking rules.

[MaggieA]

As I mentioned in my post, none of these shops I checked have any store banners, logos or "stories", no collections, no media images. None of the things any normal seller would have to do in order to get to Z4. Without doing those things, I assume you would not make the Z4 rank.

I actually hoped the Z rank was created to minimise these kinds of "spammers", one of the reasons I choose the Zazzle platform. 

[Wesha]

Would you please share the search phrase ? Being curious ....