Quote:
Originally Posted by tompe
It is not hard to see possible ways. One is that Amazon removes reviews they do not like. They can also import reviews from sources that are not as good with regard to objectivity. And so on.
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This might fly on a site with less vigilant users, but the reviewers on Goodreads (especially those with the highest visibility) are not the type to stay quiet when their reviews disappear. Ask GR how it worked out for them when they decided to "hide" some reviews. There are now little networks that make sure those hidden reviews are identified and accessible even though they no longer show on the book page.
Imported reviews would be very easily identifiable because they wouldn't be attached to an actual user. GR users can root out a sock puppet in about half a second, so I know they can identify reviews that aren't attached to legitimate GR users.
I'm not saying that Amazon wouldn't consider stuff like this, I'm only saying it wouldn't go over well at all. Surely they've figured out what sort of user base they are dealing with by now. I suspect the worst they will do to GR is use it for more targeted advertising, and to integrate Kindle features in a way that will probably be mildly nauseating.