Quote:
Originally Posted by robko
I'm not sure if it's specifically designed to do this or not, but the natural tendency based on the weighting system is likely to mean that it will do so. On a "popular" product the majority of people are going to be looking for the "positive" reviews to confirm their intention to purchase and naturally are going to flag those as helpful. People that may have a legitimate concern or specific dislike not shared by the majority (say if the e-reader is IR vs capacitive touch, or has buttons vs not) are going to get buried because not nearly as many people flag it as helpful. In some ways this will also have the tendency to bury info functions not as many people are interested in or are lesser known amd might not be covered in the product info blurb (again because they aren't going to get the same amount of helpful flags).
The best example I have of this I've come across was a blog on the topic where the blogger was talking about a researching what he should buy for new digital camera. The one reviewer was bashing it because it didn't have this function or that function and basically said you'd be crazy to buy it. But, the negative review told the blogger everything he wanted to know because he was after a really simple point and shoot so the reviewed camera was exactly what he wanted.
I agree with DiapDealer. I can wade through and decide for myself. I actually spend more time looking at the negative reviews because they tend to give a lot of details that aren't in the description.
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The lack of transparency does bother me, especially since I've noted that Amazon's ebook suggestion engine seems to be more and more weighted towards Amazon digital services books. Of course, it's probably more likely an attempt to handle some the little loopholes that people have found to game Amazon's review/rating system. I question how successful it's going to be.