If the allegations are in fact true maybe Amazon is going for the nostalgia angle? Just like shopping in a bookstore when the Big Publishers were in control and payola was the accepted business model. I don't visit many book stores these days but looking in a local one the other day and seeing what books are in the prime spots I suspect that this practice is still well and truly alive in print books.
Amazon seems to do very well in recommendations for some and not so well for others. I fall into the latter category though I do occasionally see a recommendation that interests me. As as has already been posted, Book store sites (or for that matter physical premises) are probably not the most independant source of recommendations. You can take them or leave them.
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