Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Irving
...the policy is exactly the same as B&N's, which means that the whole thing is controlled by the publishers who allow the lending. Otherwise I'm sure Amazon would throw in a little extra to stick it to the competition.
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That is a plausible reason but not the only possibility.
Amazon may have made this change so as to remove one of Barnes & Noble's competitive advantages.
If Barnes & Nobel continues to offer the same lending policy, Amazon needn't do anything further.
For B&N to market lending as a competitive feature, they have to up the ante and offer more - longer lending or multiple loans.
That may cause additional financial hardship to B&N or put them in poor standings with their supplier-publishers, assuming it isn't publishers setting the limits, as you've rightly suggested may be the case.
It's an excellent tactical move on Amazon's part.