|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
12-06-2012, 02:25 PM | #46 | ||||
Wizard
Posts: 4,896
Karma: 33602910
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: PocketBook 903 & 360+
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
||||
12-06-2012, 04:51 PM | #47 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,100
Karma: 11315768
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: UK
Device: Kindle, Kobo Touch, Nook SimpleTouch
|
|
12-06-2012, 07:11 PM | #48 | |
Wizard
Posts: 4,896
Karma: 33602910
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: PocketBook 903 & 360+
|
Quote:
Authors: Amazon can't tell which reviews, if any are dishonest so they remove all. Fans: Amazon decides to remove their reviews, and when questioned about the decision threaten to remove the book. Paid reviewers: Amazon can't tell which reviews have been paid for, but know that some definitely were, so they decide to remove none. Amazon decision benefits paid reviewers, because at this point only the reviews written by paid reviewers are safe. |
|
12-06-2012, 08:40 PM | #49 |
Scott Nicholson, author
Posts: 363
Karma: 2029337
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Boone NC
Device: Kindle
|
There is only ONE reason Amazon removes author reviews.
Authors are the only ones whose accounts be tracked. Fake accounts by authors can still get you some weasel reviews. Indeed, paid reviews can still weasel in under fake names. Also notice, Amazon exhibits a double standard for its OWN books: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/1...endly-reviews/ The lesson here is, authors squealed about paid reviews because they were jealous of John Locke, Amazon was forced to react to the bad PR, and Amazon swung the stick at the only thing that could really be cleaned up--author reviews. Sweetly ironic. This isn't a move to address the rampant review problem, it was designed purely to address the PR problem. If Amazon truly wanted legitimacy, it would limit reviews solely to verified purchasers who use their real names. But Amazon's goal isn't legitimacy--they don't care if someone is writing fake reviews or not (see the NYT piece as evidence--it's okay to write reviews of stuff you haven't even seen, read, or bought), they just want people on their site buying stuff. Authors just happen to be the most disposable and easily replaceable folks they could target. Last edited by Scott Nicholson; 12-06-2012 at 08:43 PM. |
12-06-2012, 09:09 PM | #50 |
Padawan Learner
Posts: 243
Karma: 1085815
Join Date: May 2009
Location: www.OutlawGalaxy.com, Foothills of NY's Adirondack mountains
Device: My PC...using Puppy Linux (FBReader, Calibre, Kindle Cloud Reader,
|
I think using only "verified purchasers" is problematic because if one is willing to pay people to review your book, one is presumably willing to chip in another $0.99-2.99 to said shill to buy the book first.
And now that we know that Amazon will remove a book if people complain about removed books...well, the literary equivalent of 4chan could have a field day: Pick an author you don't like*. Buy book. Post a review so obviously insincere that Amazon will no doubt remove it. Complain to Amazon. Get book removed. * Or pay your friends to go after a competing author. Rinse, repeat as desired. Yap about it all over the Internet. Be sure to paint Amazon as the big/bad evil censor, especially since they are arbitrarily determining who is an illegitimate reviewer and who isn't in a very non-transparent way. And ultimately, I have very little doubt that Amazon is going after small indie authors on this -- I have very little doubt that some mainstream publishers are using roundabout methods to get paid glowing reviews posted -- considering the tailspin and fear NY publishers are going through now, I have little doubt that *some* people in the industry would resort to this if they thought they could get away with it. I think Amazon would have been better off letting the paid reviews stand and let the tidal wave of "this is crap" reviews drown out the paid shills. Last edited by BillSmithBooks; 12-06-2012 at 09:13 PM. |
12-07-2012, 04:41 AM | #51 | |
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 739
Karma: 7747724
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Yes it is:
Quote:
/JB |
|
12-07-2012, 05:33 AM | #52 |
Wizard
Posts: 4,896
Karma: 33602910
Join Date: Oct 2010
Device: PocketBook 903 & 360+
|
|
12-07-2012, 05:51 AM | #53 | ||
Somewhat clueless
Posts: 739
Karma: 7747724
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis, iPhone 6 Plus
|
That's irrelevant - the threat was still made.
Quote:
As the article later says: Quote:
|
||
12-09-2012, 07:28 AM | #54 | |
Wizard
Posts: 1,096
Karma: 4695691
Join Date: May 2008
Device: Kindle Paperwhite
|
actually i write and edit site reviews for part of my living, and i've written a number of amazon user reviews for products from books and guitars to apple chips and electronics. none of those reviews were paid - they were things i owned that i wanted to share about. and sometimes i chuckle to myself as i write reviews for free after spending hours writing them for money
Quote:
|
|
12-09-2012, 07:36 AM | #55 | |
eBook Enthusiast
Posts: 85,544
Karma: 93383043
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: UK
Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6
|
Quote:
|
|
12-09-2012, 11:32 AM | #56 |
Enthusiast
Posts: 28
Karma: 513210
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Carolina
Device: Aztak Pocket Pro, Palm Zire 72, IPad 2
|
Rather than remove such reviews, I would prefer see an information/disclosure type system. Amazon could, in theory, place a script on their webite saying something like "this Author 'A' has reviewd x number of books from Author 'B' " and Author 'B' has, in return, reviewed Author 'A' y number of times. It could also encourage explanations of such reviews. There are authors whose work in the same field, (e.g. the sciences) will almost guarantee that, at some point, they will want to review each other's books. Maybe Amazon could institue a system that would only allow these reviews if an explanation and disclamer were attached? Readers could complain if the explanations weren't satisfactory and, if a certain complaint threshold is reached, then the star rating could be removed until reviewed by Amazon.
|
12-10-2012, 10:23 PM | #57 | |
Fledgling Demagogue
Posts: 2,384
Karma: 31132263
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: White Plains
Device: Clara HD; Oasis 2; Aura HD; iPad Air; PRS-350; Galaxy S7.
|
Quote:
Then, too, companies are more inclined to keep sending you kit if you continue to give them push quotes. Social historian Mark Dery, who used to write for Keyboard Magazine, has had amusing things to say about that. Still, gear confecters can overstep the line drastically on occasion (esp. small obsessive companies, in my experience), but you've always got your editor to right them if they refuse to listen to you. I once had the head of an amp company try to get me to withdraw a positive review because he didn't like my comparison of a previous iteration of the same model with his latest. I pointed out that each had its strengths, but that apparently wasn't good enough. He expected me to say the latest model was superior in every way because, in his mind, it was, and anyone else who thought otherwise was a fool. Needless to bleat, the review was published as is. I didn't get any more breathless emails asking me to try out his kit after that. So to answer your question, I don't think a paid review is necessarily more biased than anyone else's. For me, the question is not which kind of reviewer or scenario is less ethical -- that's a would-be purist's revolving door -- but rather how reliable the person is who's writing the review. To know that, you have to look at their other reviews and decide for yourself. Also: An uninformative review is often far less useful than one which is comprehensive but biased. You can disagree with a biased review, but if it happens to be informative, you'll at least know more about the purchase you're considering. Last edited by Prestidigitweeze; 12-11-2012 at 01:49 PM. |
|
12-23-2012, 06:33 PM | #58 |
Guru
Posts: 687
Karma: 5700000
Join Date: Dec 2009
Device: kindle
|
Some of the least useful reviews I've read on Amazon have been Vine reviews. Not all of them, but you can tell when someone only got the product because they could get it free and only reviewed it so they could get more free stuff in the future. Despite their ignorance of the category and lack of a need or desire for the product (someone who only shaves with blades reviewing an electric razor, for example), these reviews are often top ranked just because they showed up early and weren't illiterate, crowding down better reviews below that provide more useful information towards people actually trying to decide between that razor and others like it.
Your reviews are only going to be as good as your community, and Amazon's community is mixed at best. There's probably nothing they can do to fix that. Any rules you make will be sidestepped by those determined to sidestep it, and will block honest and good reviewers who won't bother trying to clear your hurdles. The quality of their reviews will not improve as a result of this effort, however well-intended it is, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a slight net decrease in quality. I actually don't buy a lot of PC stuff these days, but when I did, Newegg's reviews were pitch perfect. Even when I wasn't buying from newegg, I always checked their reviews. Their community didn't just write useful reviews, they were very good about getting the most useful reviews to the top of the list. You'd be very hard-pressed to try to replicate their community building success, and if you did, it'd be the same way they did -- blind frakking luck. Amazon's attempts to regulate the area ignore the truth, it's not about the rules, it's about the people. Regs won't deter the bad actors but they probably will discourage the good ones. |
12-25-2012, 08:10 AM | #59 |
PHD in Horribleness
Posts: 2,320
Karma: 23599604
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L
Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.
|
|
12-25-2012, 08:27 AM | #60 |
The Dank Side of the Moon
Posts: 35,872
Karma: 118716293
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Denver, CO
Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire
|
Well, that was confusing....
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
No T2 Review? No new ereader reviews? | Rizla | General Discussions | 3 | 09-04-2012 08:40 AM |
Authors Paying for Reviews in Newspapers? | ClairePMR | General Discussions | 14 | 03-08-2011 08:22 PM |
iLiad review on Trusted Reviews | BKeeper | iRex | 4 | 09-08-2007 02:04 PM |