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Martin -- Honestly, not arguing. I understand the frustration. For myself, the solution is to maybe be attracted by the review/comments, but not to buy or download till I've seen a sample. Usually, it doesn't take much (maybe the first 500 words) for me to know whether or not I'm going to want to read the book. It might fall apart later, but I take my chances.
I do think you might not be so hard on the writers and their supporters. It might not be the case of someone asking friends and family to write gushing reviews, but there may be people from a writing group who knew the work as it was being developed, or friends of friends who came across it and were genuinely impressed. I have seven 5-star reviews under a novella on smashwords, I'd challenged anyone to sort out which was written by a close friend, which by people I knew vaguely from a website , which by a friend of a friend who I thought would be interested in the book, and which by total strangers (most of them). I never asked anyone to write reviews and I don't think any of the people who did lied. Are you suggesting that people who have any connection with the writer be prohibited from leaving comments? Wouldn't that put th self-published at a terrible disadvantage? Published novels are also reviewed by friends. Publishing companies, agents and publicists can push for reviews in magazines that wouldn't touch self-published books. Until that part changes, self-published writers need to rely on the reader comments.
As a consumer of self published books, you can do your part by writing honest reviews, especially of any gems you find.
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