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Publishers are in the business of selling books. They have no interest in separating the wheat from the chaff, as long as they can sell the product. Most items sell based on hype and marketing rather than content. Naturally, publishers are moving away from using reviews as part of their marketing scheme. In this regard many movie production companies no longer provide advance screenings to critics.
With the focus on marketing rather than content, publishers have also scaled back their role in typesetting and proofreading. Some publishers contract this work to other companies. In doing this, publishers have become little more than marketing companies. In this day and age there are other marketing options such as Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook. These companies are the new gatekeepers. I hope that in the future independent, non-profit gatekeepers emerge.
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