Amazon Killed The Book Reviewer Star

[Kumabjorn]

What is 1 star spam reviews?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

What is 1 star spam reviews?

Protest reviews.
There are/have been entire campaigns where people "review" titles and give them the minimum 1 star rating "on principle" rather than on merit. There was one launched and maintained for months protesting DRM. Another, protested Amazon's 1984 fiasco.
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248
More common are protests over unusually high prices.
Amazon from time to time mines the reviews database and scrubs out protest reviews from clear campaigns but scattered protest reviews are often allowed simply because a critical consumer can see they are bogus and because over time they get drowned out by valid reviews.

[xg4bx]

i think the thing thats going to end up biting authors in the ass is all the 'sock puppeting' that goes on. its easy enough to discover (look at what else these 5-star reviewers have reviewed. without fail the list will only include books by said author). i'll accept a certain amount of friends and family give a book good reviews, i've done it for a friends novels (however they were genuinely good and i didn't need to lie). but an indie author with nothing but 5-star reviews will force me to dig a bit deeper.

i am far more likely to buy a book with multiple but legitimate 3 star reviews than i am one with nothing but fraudulent 5 star ones. socket puppet authors get put on my 'do not buy' list. overall i put a tad bit of faith in the review system but ultimately it comes down to my own scanning of the sample.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

i think the thing thats going to end up biting authors in the ass is all the 'sock puppeting' that goes on. its easy enough to discover (look at what else these 5-star reviewers have reviewed. without fail the list will only include books by said author)....

In those cases I'd think it would be pretty easy for Amazon or any other site to detect and take whatever action they felt necessary.

[Xanthe]

Others have implied that Amazon contains far worse than uncritical literary buffoons; Cornell professor Trevor Pinch, discovered systemic corruption within the ranks of top 1,000 Amazon reviewers, many of whom are given perks for good reviews or abstaining from bad ones.

As one of those top 1,000 Amazon reviewers, I have to say that I've never been offered any type of perks for writing a good review or for abstaining from writing a bad one. I don't get any perks at all, other than the opportunity to keep whatever item I am reviewing. Nor have I ever gotten any commentary from Amazon regarding my reviews or any attempt to influence them. I haven't been personally contacted by any of the publishers or companies involved with offers of perks either.

There are games that are played there, with some reviewers negative-voting some reviews that appear to be gaining popularity in order to hopefully get their own review into the "Most Helpful" section instead. But that's the same kind of thing that happens in office politics and life itself by folks who are ego-driven. I've got a review up for a toothbrush that covered all the necessary points and gave my opinion of it, yet someone gave that review a negative vote. First of all, who is paying that much attention to a toothbrush review of one that isn't even yet on the market, unless it's someone who is trying to position their own review higher in the queue? It's stuff like that that goes on there.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Protest reviews.
There are/have been entire campaigns where people "review" titles and give them the minimum 1 star rating "on principle" rather than on merit. There was one launched and maintained for months protesting DRM. Another, protested Amazon's 1984 fiasco.
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248
More common are protests over unusually high prices.
Amazon from time to time mines the reviews database and scrubs out protest reviews from clear campaigns but scattered protest reviews are often allowed simply because a critical consumer can see they are bogus and because over time they get drowned out by valid reviews.

Exactly. It's easy to read the "protest" 1-star reviews and see why they are there and make your purchasing decision in an informed manner. Bogus reviews about the book's quality are more difficult to discern (although there are ways, they involve searching out the reviewers' other reviews individually), especially if they dominate the reviews.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

I've got a review up for a toothbrush that covered all the necessary points and gave my opinion of it, yet someone gave that review a negative vote. First of all, who is paying that much attention to a toothbrush review of one that isn't even yet on the market, unless it's someone who is trying to position their own review higher in the queue? It's stuff like that that goes on there.

I laughed, but I have a review of a garlic masher up that probably needs to be edited.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

As one of those top 1,000 Amazon reviewers, I have to say that I've never been offered any type of perks for writing a good review or for abstaining from writing a bad one. I don't get any perks at all, other than the opportunity to keep whatever item I am reviewing.

I don't understand what you mean by "keep whatever item I am reviewing". Surely you can only review an item after you've bought it, can't you?

[Kumabjorn]

I think that in the US Amazon will ask frequent reviewers if they are interested in reviewing certain items and Amazon will then provide them with a free sample.

[plib]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

I think that in the US Amazon will ask frequent reviewers if they are interested in reviewing certain items and Amazon will then provide them with a free sample.

Those damn pirates!

[VaporPunk]

Check out the reviews on Diablo 3

Is it a good game? Dunno, 'cos most of the reviews are penned by angry teens who can't log-in. Is that part of the gaming experience? You decide. (Whats great though is the angry reaction to the DRM system. Being forced to play online even when playing SP is pissing people off...)

While the above doesn't have much to do with books, the same principles apply. Expectations, poor formatting, etc...all affect reviewers and some people give them more weight than others.

You're still better off listening to friends + critics who have the same taste as you than with Amazon.

[hidari]

Have to say some of the indie reviews... are way over the top with 5 stars and seem to have more coercion intended in making said book more popular rather than having people truly give an honest review. Hence, I tend to gravitate to 2, 3 or 4 star reviews to actually get a more honest opinion....

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't understand what you mean by "keep whatever item I am reviewing". Surely you can only review an item after you've bought it, can't you?

No; Amazon will let you review anything. If they have a record of you having bought it from them, they give you a badge saying that you bought the item or book.

I've reviewed books I've borrowed.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Joykins

No; Amazon will let you review anything. If they have a record of you having bought it from them, they give you a badge saying that you bought the item or book.

I've reviewed books I've borrowed.

Sorry, you misunderstand me. My confusion lay in the comment that the reviewer "could keep what they were reviewing". The implied question was "how did you get hold of the thing to review if you didn't buy it?" I should have been more specific about that - sorry.

[RHWright]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I mean the public accepting the validity of reviews by the unknowns and strangers you usually get online. I'm not sure they put as much credence in the worth of online reviewers as they do from famous, established reviewers, and most especially when the reviews are either 1- or 5-stars; more often the value of the online review is automatically questioned, whereas the value of such a glowing (or stinking) review from an established source is less likely to be challenged.

I think there is a higher "noise-to-signal" (or BS-to-insight) ratio with amateur online reviews than with professional ones; this is not to say that the pros are more "trustworthy."

I tend to lend more credence to reviewers that have proven, repeatedly, spot-on for my tastes. It's a little easier to sift through the pros, because there are fewer of them. But various blogs and sites such as goodreads make it easier to find talented amateurs that are also simpatico with what I'll probably enjoy.

Being a modern net-izen means being able to weed through the online reviews. If I have no trusted pointers, I like to read a number of reviews and weigh them myself.