Phony Book Reviews on www.EBookMall.Com

lanzones · 02-08-2012, 01:40 AM

I have to wonder how many phony book reviews are on EBookMall. I recently saw an ad soliciting book reviewers (see this ad below). The ad read that book reviewers are to review 50-100 books per day. They are instructed to give 3 to 5 stars for a review. One or two stars (poor or fair) is not allowed.

The reviewer is given a list of sites to "research" the book. The reviewer quickly scans information ABOUT the book. The reviewer is never asked to actually READ the book. The reviewer works 8 hours per days. If you do the math, this would mean that an enitre review is researched and written in less than 9 minutes.

I know that phony product reviews are a big industry, but this one really takes the cake.

The ad for reviewers appeared on the website www.peopleperhour.com. This is how it reads:

"We are looking for multiple freelancers interested in writing short book reviews for us on a weekly basis. Reviews should between 80-150 words and you need to post them on our website at the corresponding bookpage, including clicking a 3-5 start ranking for the book.

We will provide excel sheet with links to bookpages, you just have to research the book and write a short review.
We need approx. 50-100 reviews per day per person which should take you approx. 8 hours per day."

xg4bx · 02-08-2012, 05:14 AM

*cough harriet klausner cough*

http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/

its the biggest scam going on amazon and publishing. "she" posts up to 20 reviews per day and has a lifetime total of something like 26,000 reviews, ALL of them 4-5 stars.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile...=cm_aya_bb_pdp

66 reviews posted by "her" yesterday alone.

it doesn't shock me that this is going on elsewhere.

HomeInMyShoes · 02-08-2012, 08:54 AM

And it's the reason why places like goodreads and here are the best bets for me for finding recommendations.

Apache · 02-08-2012, 09:05 AM

Since finding Mobile Reads, I only use them for reader reviews. At least I now the people here have read the books and are honest in there reports.
What is even better is finding good books suggested that I would never have come across. Thank you to all of the posters at Mobile Reads.
Apache

Phogg · 02-08-2012, 09:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apache

Since finding Mobile Reads, I only use them for reader reviews. At least I now the people here have read the books and are honest in there reports.
What is even better is finding good books suggested that I would never have come across. Thank you to all of the posters at Mobile Reads.
Apache

Which is exactly why Amazon has withdrawn link support from Goodreads.

Giggleton · 02-08-2012, 10:40 AM

The idea that a book must be read in its entirety before it can be reviewed is a little quaint. After that realization, where should the line be drawn?? The first chapter? The first page? What If I decided to read the first few sentences of a book and then give it 0 stars?? We should not lambast anyone for posting reviews for books they have yet to open the cover on, we should simply ignore those whose reviews are meaningless. Some do find these "false" reviews helpful, which means that all your hating is misplaced.

Professional reviewers have been around since we started transmitting information.

lanzones · 02-08-2012, 01:27 PM

Giggleton,

I agree with you that these things are always a matter of degree. The question though, is to what degree. I don’t think that a reviewer need savor every flowery adjective or deeply reflect on every chapter. Reviewing need not be quaint. There should be however, a minimum expectation of an endeavor for it to be considered acceptable.

Some of my expectations would be that the reviewer has access to the entire content of what is reviewed. A reviewer should have the ability to rate an item fair or poor, and not just good or better. A reviewer would spend more than 5-9 minutes researching the book and writing the review. The review would be signed so that the reader could assess the reviewer. A review would be dated. The reviewer follows a minimal process of inquiry, evaluation, and disclosure, and not a hasty, assembly line method.

None of these criteria seem to be followed by the company in question. The simple fact that the company does not permit a one or two star rating is misrepresentation that disqualifies them as a legitimate reviewer. You’re right about usefulness. The best market is the free market, and this company has certainly shown its colors in that realm. I don’t hate anyone or anything, but I certainly disdain an effort that is disingenuous.

Andrew H. · 02-08-2012, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phogg

Which is exactly why Amazon has withdrawn link support from Goodreads.

That doesn't make any sense.

Amazon doesn't allow GR to use its API because GR linked to bookstores other than Amazon. Which makes a certain amount of sense - why would Amazon allow any company to link to its data for free and use it as a way to sell books at other bookstores?

MJK2111 · 02-08-2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giggleton

The idea that a book must be read in its entirety before it can be reviewed is a little quaint. After that realization, where should the line be drawn?? The first chapter? The first page? What If I decided to read the first few sentences of a book and then give it 0 stars?? We should not lambast anyone for posting reviews for books they have yet to open the cover on, we should simply ignore those whose reviews are meaningless. Some do find these "false" reviews helpful, which means that all your hating is misplaced.

Professional reviewers have been around since we started transmitting information.

OK, if I decide to accept your statements (which I don't...) exactly how would I know which reviews are "meaningless?" How do I know which reviewers open the cover and which don't?

RainingLemur · 02-08-2012, 02:30 PM

I feel bad for anyone who would do that. 50-100 books A DAY. If you're going to be writing long-ish reviews past "Boy. The book was good. I recommend it." and actually doing research on the book, you may as well just write a book yourself.

taustin · 02-08-2012, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

I feel bad for anyone who would do that. 50-100 books A DAY. If you're going to be writing long-ish reviews past "Boy. The book was good. I recommend it." and actually doing research on the book, you may as well just write a book yourself.

I suspect that writing fake reviews pays better. Which is to say, it pays, where writing, all too often, doesn't.

morriss003 · 02-08-2012, 08:27 PM

Someone offered to write a review for me recently if I paid them $10. No thanks. But I do wish that Barnes and Nobel would have links from my free book to my other books. Why wouldn't they do that, since they are getting some revenue from the $1.89 books?

robko · 02-08-2012, 09:20 PM

I really wish I hadn't started to read this thread. I knew at a gut level that this happens, but I made the mistake of checking out the job-ad site out of curiousity and all I can say is "Wow, do I ever need to be even more cynical than I am".

Giggleton · 02-09-2012, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJK2111

OK, if I decide to accept your statements (which I don't...) exactly how would I know which reviews are "meaningless?" How do I know which reviewers open the cover and which don't?

Its intractable.

For starters we would have to agree on what meaningless means.

For seconders, as I previously mentioned, some people like these shotgun reviews as I have just now termed them.

Do you wish for a walled garden review system? There are many available to you...

DO NOT HATE, ONLY LOVE!

02-08-2012, 01:40 AM	#1
lanzones Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: none	Phony Book Reviews on www.EBookMall.Com I have to wonder how many phony book reviews are on EBookMall. I recently saw an ad soliciting book reviewers (see this ad below). The ad read that book reviewers are to review 50-100 books per day. They are instructed to give 3 to 5 stars for a review. One or two stars (poor or fair) is not allowed. The reviewer is given a list of sites to "research" the book. The reviewer quickly scans information ABOUT the book. The reviewer is never asked to actually READ the book. The reviewer works 8 hours per days. If you do the math, this would mean that an enitre review is researched and written in less than 9 minutes. I know that phony product reviews are a big industry, but this one really takes the cake. The ad for reviewers appeared on the website www.peopleperhour.com. This is how it reads: "We are looking for multiple freelancers interested in writing short book reviews for us on a weekly basis. Reviews should between 80-150 words and you need to post them on our website at the corresponding bookpage, including clicking a 3-5 start ranking for the book. We will provide excel sheet with links to bookpages, you just have to research the book and write a short review. We need approx. 50-100 reviews per day per person which should take you approx. 8 hours per day."

02-08-2012, 05:14 AM	#2
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	cough harriet klausner cough http://harriet-rules.blogspot.com/ its the biggest scam going on amazon and publishing. "she" posts up to 20 reviews per day and has a lifetime total of something like 26,000 reviews, ALL of them 4-5 stars. http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile...=cm_aya_bb_pdp 66 reviews posted by "her" yesterday alone. it doesn't shock me that this is going on elsewhere. Last edited by xg4bx; 02-08-2012 at 05:23 AM.

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02-08-2012, 08:54 AM	#3
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	And it's the reason why places like goodreads and here are the best bets for me for finding recommendations.

02-08-2012, 09:05 AM	#4
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,277 Karma: 90000484 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	Since finding Mobile Reads, I only use them for reader reviews. At least I now the people here have read the books and are honest in there reports. What is even better is finding good books suggested that I would never have come across. Thank you to all of the posters at Mobile Reads. Apache

02-08-2012, 10:40 AM	#6
Giggleton Banned Posts: 1,687 Karma: 4368191 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Oregon Device: Kindle3	The idea that a book must be read in its entirety before it can be reviewed is a little quaint. After that realization, where should the line be drawn?? The first chapter? The first page? What If I decided to read the first few sentences of a book and then give it 0 stars?? We should not lambast anyone for posting reviews for books they have yet to open the cover on, we should simply ignore those whose reviews are meaningless. Some do find these "false" reviews helpful, which means that all your hating is misplaced. Professional reviewers have been around since we started transmitting information.

02-08-2012, 01:27 PM	#7
lanzones Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: none	Giggleton, I agree with you that these things are always a matter of degree. The question though, is to what degree. I don’t think that a reviewer need savor every flowery adjective or deeply reflect on every chapter. Reviewing need not be quaint. There should be however, a minimum expectation of an endeavor for it to be considered acceptable. Some of my expectations would be that the reviewer has access to the entire content of what is reviewed. A reviewer should have the ability to rate an item fair or poor, and not just good or better. A reviewer would spend more than 5-9 minutes researching the book and writing the review. The review would be signed so that the reader could assess the reviewer. A review would be dated. The reviewer follows a minimal process of inquiry, evaluation, and disclosure, and not a hasty, assembly line method. None of these criteria seem to be followed by the company in question. The simple fact that the company does not permit a one or two star rating is misrepresentation that disqualifies them as a legitimate reviewer. You’re right about usefulness. The best market is the free market, and this company has certainly shown its colors in that realm. I don’t hate anyone or anything, but I certainly disdain an effort that is disingenuous.

02-08-2012, 02:30 PM	#10
RainingLemur Spork Connoisseur Posts: 2,355 Karma: 16780603 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Nook Color	I feel bad for anyone who would do that. 50-100 books A DAY. If you're going to be writing long-ish reviews past "Boy. The book was good. I recommend it." and actually doing research on the book, you may as well just write a book yourself.

02-08-2012, 08:27 PM	#12
morriss003 Evangelist Posts: 438 Karma: 3409790 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Maui Device: kindle	Someone offered to write a review for me recently if I paid them $10. No thanks. But I do wish that Barnes and Nobel would have links from my free book to my other books. Why wouldn't they do that, since they are getting some revenue from the $1.89 books?

02-08-2012, 09:20 PM	#13
robko Wizard Posts: 2,454 Karma: 5469320 Join Date: Jul 2010 Device: Kobo	I really wish I hadn't started to read this thread. I knew at a gut level that this happens, but I made the mistake of checking out the job-ad site out of curiousity and all I can say is "Wow, do I ever need to be even more cynical than I am".

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