Hiding Products

Hiding Products

Hiding completely removes products from search results. Hidden products won't appear in Nobi search results, no matter what customers search for (unless you specify query conditions). Use hiding for products you don't want customers to find through search.

How Hiding Works

When you hide products, Nobi removes them from all search results before any ranking happens. Hidden products are invisible to customers using Nobi search.
Example: You hide all products tagged "wholesale-only." When customers search for anything, those products never appear in results, even if they would otherwise be highly relevant.
Hiding is the strongest merchandising action. Unlike burying (which reduces visibility) or boosting (which increases it), hiding makes products completely unavailable through Nobi search.

Creating Hide Rules

Basic Hide Rule

  1. Go to Products → Merchandising in your dashboard
  1. Click "Create Rule"
  1. Select "Hide" as the action
  1. Set conditions (tags, product type, vendor, price, etc.)
  1. Preview affected products
  1. Save the rule
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No strength or adjustment needed. Hiding is binary: products are either hidden or not.

Hide Rules Always Win

Hiding takes priority over all other merchandising actions:
  • If a product is hidden, it stays hidden regardless of boost, bury, or slot rules
  • You cannot boost a hidden product back into visibility
  • You cannot slot a hidden product into search results
To make a hidden product visible again, remove or modify the hide rule.

Previewing Hidden Products

Before saving a hide rule, preview which products will be affected:
  1. Set up your conditions
  1. Click "Preview Products"
  1. See list of products that will be hidden
  1. Verify you're hiding the right products
  1. Adjust conditions if needed

Hide vs Bury

Hiding completely removes products from search results.
Burying reduces visibility but keeps products findable.
When to hide:
  • Products should not be sold right now (out of season, discontinued)
  • Products are restricted or inappropriate for certain customers
  • Products aren't ready for public visibility
When to bury:
  • Products can be sold but shouldn't be emphasized (low stock, low margin)
  • You want reduced visibility but not complete removal
  • Customers should still be able to find products if they look hard enough
If you're unsure, start with burying. You can always change to hiding if complete removal is needed.
Learn about burying →

Best Practices

Use Hiding Sparingly

Hiding removes products completely. Only hide when products truly shouldn't appear in search. Overuse can frustrate customers looking for items.

Set Date Ranges for Seasonal Hides

Automatically show and hide seasonal products by setting date ranges.
This prevents you from forgetting to unhide seasonal items.

Preview Before Saving

Always preview hide rules. Accidentally hiding best-sellers or entire product categories can significantly hurt sales.

Use Location Targeting Wisely

Location-based hiding helps with regional restrictions, but verify customer locations are accurate before relying on geo-targeting.

Document Your Rules

Keep notes on why products are hidden, especially for seasonal or temporary hides. This helps when reviewing rules later.

Review Regularly

Check hide rules monthly to remove expired seasonal hides, verify discontinued products are still discontinued, and ensure rules are still relevant.

Warning About Over-Hiding

Hiding too many products can negatively impact the customer experience:
  • Reduced product selection makes your store seem smaller
  • Customers may not find what they're looking for
  • Search feels incomplete or frustrating
  • Sales decrease if you hide products customers want
Use hiding strategically for products that truly shouldn't appear. For inventory management or prioritization, consider burying instead.

Hidden Products in Other Contexts

Products Hidden from Nobi Only

Hide rules only affect Nobi search results. Hidden products still:
  • Appear in your Shopify admin
  • Show on collection pages (unless you hide them there too)
  • Are accessible via direct URL
  • Appear in traditional search (if you use both Nobi and traditional search)
Hiding in Nobi doesn't change product status in Shopify or remove products from your catalog.

Unpublished vs Hidden

Unpublished in Shopify - Product is not available on your online store at all
Hidden in Nobi - Product is available on your store but doesn't appear in Nobi search results
If a product is unpublished in Shopify, it won't sync to Nobi regardless of hide rules (see Syncing Your Product Catalog).