Amazon Removed Gay Books from Rankings

Moejoe · 04-12-2009, 07:38 PM

Linked in from Mashable:

http://mashable.com/2009/04/12/amazo...from-rankings/

Quote:

Some members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community are taking exception today to Amazon’s removal from its sales rankings of gay or lesbian books it considered “adult” in nature.

I've been following this on Twitter #amazonfail and it's now the highest rated Twitter-trend.

UPDATE: LA Times has a piece on this now: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/04/

lilac_jive · 04-12-2009, 07:42 PM

I saw this on DearAuthor. Unfortunately, it's not just LGBT books, but some romance novels (mostly erotica).

Moejoe · 04-12-2009, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I saw this on DearAuthor. Unfortunately, it's not just LGBT books, but some romance novels (mostly erotica).

Their reasoning on this seems sloppy at best. Excluding LBG&T and erotica because of the sensitivities of some who might see the list is near-enough to censorship for my tastes. What next, age ratings on books? Those annoying 'explicit lyrics' stickers you find on music?

From the article, quoting Amazon:

Quote:

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude “adult” material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.

daffy4u · 04-12-2009, 07:52 PM

There was a sort of campaign last year on the Amazon Kindle boards asking to remove a lot of the adult or porn type titles from showing up in the low-to-high sort for Kindle books. There were so many of them that it was difficult to sort through to find the lower priced Kindle books.

lilac_jive · 04-12-2009, 07:57 PM

Apparantly de Sade has been hit by this and Brokeback Mountain.

Gudy · 04-12-2009, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

There was a sort of campaign last year on the Amazon Kindle boards asking to remove a lot of the adult or porn type titles from showing up in the low-to-high sort for Kindle books.

Interestingly, the Kindle editions don't seem to be (as) affected by this as the paper editions.

I'm pretty darn disgusted and angry at Amazon right now.

Moejoe · 04-12-2009, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

Apparantly de Sade has been hit by this and Brokeback Mountain.

Lady Chatterley's Lover, The Harvey Milk Biography all deranked. But hey, guess what, all the homophobic books are right there and ranked highly.

Sickening.

Seabound · 04-12-2009, 08:33 PM

Just another reason for me not to patronize Amazon.

Moejoe · 04-12-2009, 08:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seabound

Just another reason for me not to patronize Amazon.

Same here. I'm so pissed off right now, but I'm taking action, going to cancel my account with these bigoted censors. I'll take my custom elsewhere.

UPDATE: They've apparently de-ranked Stephen Fry's Memoir!

daffy4u · 04-12-2009, 08:44 PM

I'm happy to add a "Dear Jeff Bezos" letter to the blog for anyone who would like to write one.

Moejoe · 04-12-2009, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I'm happy to add a "Dear Jeff Bezos" letter to the blog for anyone who would like to write one.

There's already an open-letter to Bezos, you might want to link in:

http://thewritemarket.blogspot.com/2...anks-from.html

Seabound · 04-12-2009, 08:54 PM

It's spreading like crazy on twitter, and I haven't seen a tweet sympathetic to Amazon. Dear Jeff Bezos and lawyers: "Pride" comes before the fall. Mwahahahaha! (Evil laughter and pun intended.) I think Jeff Bezos might be a closeted...oh never mind!

daffy4u · 04-12-2009, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moejoe

There's already an open-letter to Bezos, you might want to link in:

http://thewritemarket.blogspot.com/2...anks-from.html

Done.

ShortNCuddlyAm · 04-12-2009, 08:59 PM

Last straw for me, too. I need to find somewhere else online to get my pbooks from now...

Phogg · 04-12-2009, 09:04 PM

Meh.

It's a business.
Businesses make marketing decisions trying to determine what will work best with their targeted customer base.

Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they get it wrong.

Very often the best thing to do is to split different product lines off into separate divisions.

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04-12-2009, 07:42 PM	#2
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	I saw this on DearAuthor. Unfortunately, it's not just LGBT books, but some romance novels (mostly erotica).

04-12-2009, 07:52 PM	#4
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	There was a sort of campaign last year on the Amazon Kindle boards asking to remove a lot of the adult or porn type titles from showing up in the low-to-high sort for Kindle books. There were so many of them that it was difficult to sort through to find the lower priced Kindle books.

04-12-2009, 07:57 PM	#5
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	Apparantly de Sade has been hit by this and Brokeback Mountain.

04-12-2009, 08:33 PM	#8
Seabound Steerage Class Posts: 711 Karma: 505995 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest, USA Device: Won't fit here anymore, see sig for a list of liseuses.	Just another reason for me not to patronize Amazon.

04-12-2009, 08:44 PM	#10
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	I'm happy to add a "Dear Jeff Bezos" letter to the blog for anyone who would like to write one.

04-12-2009, 08:54 PM	#12
Seabound Steerage Class Posts: 711 Karma: 505995 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Pacific Northwest, USA Device: Won't fit here anymore, see sig for a list of liseuses.	It's spreading like crazy on twitter, and I haven't seen a tweet sympathetic to Amazon. Dear Jeff Bezos and lawyers: "Pride" comes before the fall. Mwahahahaha! (Evil laughter and pun intended.) I think Jeff Bezos might be a closeted...oh never mind!

04-12-2009, 08:59 PM	#14
ShortNCuddlyAm WWHALD Posts: 7,879 Karma: 337114 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here	Last straw for me, too. I need to find somewhere else online to get my pbooks from now...

04-12-2009, 09:04 PM	#15
Phogg PHD in Horribleness Posts: 2,320 Karma: 23599604 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: In the ironbound section, near avenue L Device: Just a whole bunch. I guess I am a collector now.	Meh. It's a business. Businesses make marketing decisions trying to determine what will work best with their targeted customer base. Sometimes they get it right. Sometimes they get it wrong. Very often the best thing to do is to split different product lines off into separate divisions.