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Old 10-04-2016, 11:21 AM   #1
kennyc
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Amazon bans reviews based on free or discounted products

"Amazon bans reviews based on free or discounted products
Only books and reviews from the Amazon Vine program are exempt from new rules."

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016...nted-products/


...sorry for the wrong link initially.



Last edited by kennyc; 10-04-2016 at 12:24 PM.
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Old 10-04-2016, 11:28 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by kennyc View Post
"Amazon bans reviews based on free or discounted products
Only books and reviews from the Amazon Vine program are exempt from new rules."


https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...97f_story.html

That link takes me to a story about the SpaceX explosion investigation.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:12 PM   #3
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Here's an article about it at Ars...

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016...nted-products/
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:13 PM   #4
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Here's an article about it at Ars...

http://arstechnica.com/business/2016...nted-products/
Oh My, that was the link I intended to post....sorry...
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:17 PM   #5
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The Real Story: Amazon Bans Free Review Samples Which Compete With Its Amazon Vine Program

Here's a different take from Nate:

Quote:
Many sites are reporting that Amazon is banning the dastardly practice of giving away free samples in exchange for reviews, but they are missing about two-thirds of the story.

This is about eliminating the competition, not cleaning up the reviews section.
Quote:
That said, one detail that most if not all of the stories missed is that this policy is hypocritical. Amazon gives out free Fire tablet, Echo, and Kindle review units all the time, and does not plan to stop.

Furthermore, here's something else that everyone may have missed:

Amazon charges manufacturers for access to the Amazon Vine program.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:18 PM   #6
kennyc
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Exactly.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:29 PM   #7
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That's one opinion, sure. I still see it as a positive change overall.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:31 PM   #8
kennyc
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Quote:
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That's one opinion, sure. I still see it as a positive change overall.
I'm completely opposed to "Paid" reviews, but those provided from ARCs I believe are legitimate, despite the minor skewing to the positive as indicated by the study. The difference was all but negligible.



ETA: and the VINE program is nothing more than ARCs. It's just than they are banning the competition. Still though I don't think they will stop it.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:41 PM   #9
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I use Fakespot when evaluating product reviews on Amazon.
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:48 PM   #10
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Definitely a good move. We don't allow reviews in exchange for free books at MR precisely because they'll inevitably be biased (has anyone ever seen a bad "honest review I wrote in exchange for a free book"?).
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Old 10-04-2016, 12:55 PM   #11
kennyc
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Quote:
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Definitely a good move. We don't allow reviews in exchange for free books at MR precisely because they'll inevitably be biased (has anyone ever seen a bad "honest review I wrote in exchange for a free book"?).
Yes.


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Old 10-04-2016, 12:58 PM   #12
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I think it's a good move.
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Old 10-04-2016, 01:00 PM   #13
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Definitely a good move. We don't allow reviews in exchange for free books at MR precisely because they'll inevitably be biased (has anyone ever seen a bad "honest review I wrote in exchange for a free book"?).
I'm really bad at writing negative reviews. When I reviewed for Prism Book Alliance if I hated a review copy I would return it to the pile and someone else would take it, or we told them author it couldn't be reviewed. I rarely wrote less than a 3 star review. I honestly felt guilty as the book was free. That's why I stopped reviewing and would rather pay for the book.

Even now if I don't finish a book I don't even rare it on Goodreads, I simply mark the book as DNF in Calibre and usually avoid the author in future.

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Old 10-04-2016, 01:18 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by Josieb1 View Post

Even now if I don't finish a book I don't even rare it on Goodreads, I simply mark the book as DNF in Calibre and usually avoid the author in future.
I find negative reviews far more useful than positive ones*. If I'm looking at a book, I already think I would like it; I need to see the reasons I wouldn't like it. If the specific reasons resonate, I move on. I tend to focus on two-star reviews as more nuanced than the nuclear one-star ones.

*The exceptions are books liked by cronies of similar taste; that's sufficient.
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Old 10-04-2016, 01:18 PM   #15
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Notably, books are exempt from this according to the article.

As for low rating "I received this book in exchange for an honest review", I've written plenty. As have most of the people I know who legitimately post ARC reviews on a regular basis based on books from places like Netgalley and Edelweiss. I've one starred books that Penguin sent me, and they kept on sending them.

I don't accept books directly from authors for review though (I used to, stopped years ago), nor do most of the serious review hobbyists. I one starred one of those once, and got threatened with criminal proceedings (obviously, that came to nothing I suspect having a direct connection to the author would provide more incentive to inflate ratings.

Remember these are the consumer reviews being talked about here. Editorial reviews (i.e. commercial, or published in trad press) are only allowed in the separate space set aside for them on Amazon. The 0.38 positive bias can likely be explained simply by "most people don't request a review copy of a book they are predisposed to dislike" though that would take another study to prove.
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