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The last part of the linked article focused on metrics. My experience has been that the publishing industry uses metrics, such as best seller lists, as an advertising tool to help sell books. In this world of on-demand publishing, best sellers do not have quite the same meaning culturally. Buyers are no longer forced into consuming a narrow range of books, based on popularity/availability. Today's best sellers may not happen to sell as well as ones in the past, as consumers are not corralled into the best seller and some purchase other books. Thus, a current best seller may not have the universal cultural appeal that a former best seller may have had.
Publishers and retailers have not come up with an effective replacement for best seller lists. I know that shopping for books at Amazon is nothing like shopping at a physical store. The online experience does not give me the freedom that I have in a physical store. Online I cannot browse through the books alphabetically by author or title. Conversely online shopping does not provide the guidance that a brick and mortar store provides. Online there are no sales associates who know me to recommend a book. Amazon still tries to corral me into certain purchases. However, I feel that such efforts are shallow, and relate to nothing more than business dealings with the publisher. Quite simply the books that they are pushing are not relevant to me.
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