Kindle spam

pwalker8 · 06-25-2011, 06:47 AM

I didn't see any earlier threads talking about this, but perhaps I just missed them. There are a number of stories about kindle spam, i.e. people gaming the kindle store to sale ebooks where they are not the writer.

This practice has really limited the value of the kindle store at Amazon for me. When I try to browse by date to see what's new, I end up going through three to five pages of spam ebooks before I get to any that might be of interest to me. I use Amazon when I'm looking for a specific title or author, but Sony when I am browsing to see what is new. Of course, Sony made the business decision to manage the catalog in house while Amazon made the business decision to push the management of the catalog to those who are trying to sale the books.

It will be interesting to see how Amazon decides to solve this problem. I can see them putting out a free catalog and then a vetted catalog when the publisher has to pay a fee to be included.

I can also see various people stepping into the void and creating web sites that list various categories, with "what's new" sections, reviews, author interviews and the like using links back to Amazon to let you buy the books, just like some of the old publisher's news letters from a number of years ago.

DMB · 06-25-2011, 07:45 AM

I'm not at all sure what you are talking about. When I go to the Kindle page at amazon.co,uk I mostly see recommendations, but I wouldn't call them "spam". They typically have some sort of connection with what I usually read.

CommonReader · 06-25-2011, 07:52 AM

There is an earlier thread on this issue:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=139489

pwalker8 · 06-25-2011, 12:32 PM

Thanks, I had missed that.

pwalker8 · 06-25-2011, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMB

I'm not at all sure what you are talking about. When I go to the Kindle page at amazon.co,uk I mostly see recommendations, but I wouldn't call them "spam". They typically have some sort of connection with what I usually read.

If one sorts the books in a category by release date and go to today's date, one will see a bunch of books that are either public domain, or independent authors. When I go to SF or Fantansy, I see pages of this stuff. Much of the independent authors' stuff appears to be porn based on the titles and descriptions. After looking today, it does seem to have improved quite a bit since the last time I looked.

Giggleton · 06-25-2011, 01:06 PM

One man's spam is anothers high quality consumption product. When I think of ebook spam I think of those infinite dieting books and such.

witeowl · 06-25-2011, 02:13 PM

Weird. This is such an odd use of the word "spam" to me. I don't see the connection between mass emails and PLR content ebooks.

bwaldron · 06-25-2011, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witeowl

Weird. This is such an odd use of the word "spam" to me. I don't see the connection between mass emails and PLR content ebooks.

Agreed.

mr ploppy · 06-25-2011, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witeowl

Weird. This is such an odd use of the word "spam" to me. I don't see the connection between mass emails and PLR content ebooks.

Its from a Monty Python sketch where everything on the menu came with Spam. Spam being some sort of processed meat product. It would probably fit this situation better than emails, but I agree with Giggles. Some people will find it worthwhile or useful to them.

The alternative would be someone at Amazon deciding what we are allowed to read on little more than a whim, or giving organised groups of zealots the power to have books removed just by getting enough people to click on a link saying "censor this book".

When you democratise publishing you have to take the bad along with the good.

Fbone · 06-25-2011, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by witeowl

Weird. This is such an odd use of the word "spam" to me. I don't see the connection between mass emails and PLR content ebooks.

Possibly because the process has become automated.

tompe · 06-25-2011, 06:10 PM

You upload a lot of books that will be removed by Amazon but since you upload so many you will sell some books before Amazon can remove them. So it seems to be a spamming practice to me.

witeowl · 06-25-2011, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompe

You upload a lot of books that will be removed by Amazon but since you upload so many you will sell some books before Amazon can remove them. So it seems to be a spamming practice to me.

Ah, now that makes sense. I didn't realize that mass uploading of books was part of the scheme. Thanks for the explanation!

06-25-2011, 06:47 AM	#1
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Kindle spam I didn't see any earlier threads talking about this, but perhaps I just missed them. There are a number of stories about kindle spam, i.e. people gaming the kindle store to sale ebooks where they are not the writer. This practice has really limited the value of the kindle store at Amazon for me. When I try to browse by date to see what's new, I end up going through three to five pages of spam ebooks before I get to any that might be of interest to me. I use Amazon when I'm looking for a specific title or author, but Sony when I am browsing to see what is new. Of course, Sony made the business decision to manage the catalog in house while Amazon made the business decision to push the management of the catalog to those who are trying to sale the books. It will be interesting to see how Amazon decides to solve this problem. I can see them putting out a free catalog and then a vetted catalog when the publisher has to pay a fee to be included. I can also see various people stepping into the void and creating web sites that list various categories, with "what's new" sections, reviews, author interviews and the like using links back to Amazon to let you buy the books, just like some of the old publisher's news letters from a number of years ago.

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06-25-2011, 07:45 AM	#2
DMB Old Git Posts: 958 Karma: 1840790 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Switzerland (mostly) Device: Two kindle PWs wifi, kindle fire, iPad3 wifi	I'm not at all sure what you are talking about. When I go to the Kindle page at amazon.co,uk I mostly see recommendations, but I wouldn't call them "spam". They typically have some sort of connection with what I usually read.

06-25-2011, 07:52 AM	#3
CommonReader Fanatic Posts: 528 Karma: 2530000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Device: Sony PRS-T3, PRS-650, Vaio Tap 11, iPad Mini	There is an earlier thread on this issue: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=139489

06-25-2011, 12:32 PM	#4
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,195 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	Thanks, I had missed that.

06-25-2011, 01:06 PM	#6
Giggleton Banned Posts: 1,687 Karma: 4368191 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Oregon Device: Kindle3	One man's spam is anothers high quality consumption product. When I think of ebook spam I think of those infinite dieting books and such.

06-25-2011, 02:13 PM	#7
witeowl Hopeless Geek Posts: 119 Karma: 203608 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Reno, NV Device: Nook Color (manual nooter)	Weird. This is such an odd use of the word "spam" to me. I don't see the connection between mass emails and PLR content ebooks.

06-25-2011, 06:10 PM	#11
tompe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,452 Karma: 7185064 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Linköpng, Sweden Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW	You upload a lot of books that will be removed by Amazon but since you upload so many you will sell some books before Amazon can remove them. So it seems to be a spamming practice to me.

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