Quote:
Originally Posted by theducks
Amazon 'Product Reviews' (and Ratings) are mostly provided free by USERS
Amazon just Hosts those. (And monitors those for issues)
There are costs to run the server farms, but that is small potatoes to what a Paid Ad Agency would get for generating that spin 
You are also free to check the Newspapers Book or Entertainment sections for reviews. |
Ah...but Amazon hosts those reviews as a service to
their customers. If someone who has no intention of buying from Amazon is using those reviews to help choose what to buy, there is no
moral difference between that and browsing a brick and mortar store when you have no intention of buying from that store.
To make this not strictly about Amazon vs B&M bookstores, consider Best Buy. If I go to bestbuy.com and look at reviews for televisions, (knowing that I won't buy from them) and then go to a different store to buy the tv, is that considered moral? What if I go to the physical Best Buy store and look at the TVs (again, knowing I won't buy from them) and then go to a different store? If one is moral and the other not, then why?
Shari