I don't trust GoodReads - Page 9

Rellwood · 10-17-2022, 08:58 PM

And Another Thing....

If you add multiple time/dates read for a book manually - ie. not on your Kindle through Amazon...They don't list that time/date on their library exports nor do they let any api capture that date either. Only the dates that are added through the Kindles are shown if there is more than one date. The site will list the correct extra dates, but if you try to get the library export it won't show the newest date read.

This only happens when you enter the date through the site and not with an Amazon purchased Kindle Book.

Rellwood · 10-17-2022, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

They list them as different editions of the same book, yes? For regular books that works somewhat fine, but not in this case.

Happy 20,000,000 Karma!

Lynx-lynx · 06-27-2023, 04:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karellen

Today I finished The Day of the Triffids "trilogy", so went hunting around for another book to start reading in the next couple of days.

We watched the movie "The Host" a few days ago which I enjoyed, so I thought I would give that a try. I saw it available at Amazon, but I was surprised to see it is part of a trilogy.

Hopped over to GoodReads and, yep, it is part of a trilogy... https://www.goodreads.com/series/46642-the-host

While The Host has only a 3.85 rating, the sequels look pretty good...
The Seeker has a rating of 4.09 with 1,946 ratings and 324 reviews
The Soul has a rating of 4.12 with 1,094 ratings and 62 reviews.

So imagine my surprise and frustration when, after wasting half an hour hunting around trying to find where to buy these books, (as Amazon don't have them for sale), to realise that these books have not even been written, let alone published.

So... how and why do unwritten and unpublished books get a rating and so many reviews on GoodReads?
Talk about misleading... here it is.

Are these generated by bot??

I'm absolutely astounded at this sort of false advertising, because yes that's what it is, false advertising. The "reviewer's" are asserting that they've seen enough info in a book to be able to produce a review. Except the book hasn't been written!!

Maybe a header above their review of "Spoof!" would identify its connection to reality.

Thank you OP for drawing this absolutely ridiculous practice to my attention.

I wonder if the sites where these types of reviews were posted were hosted in the EU if they could get away with it (without say a header saying "Spoof" or similar)

TheSmitty · 06-27-2023, 11:21 AM

Yeah, I wish they would not allow reviews for a book not published lol. I do like goodreads for tracking the books I read, when and my review. I do look at the star ratings for books I am considering but GoodReads is only one of the places I check.

theducks · 06-27-2023, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSmitty

Yeah, I wish they would not allow reviews for a book not published lol. I do like goodreads for tracking the books I read, when and my review. I do look at the star ratings for books I am considering but GoodReads is only one of the places I check.

And the review should clearly state ARC, if that was what was reviewed.
It is quite possible that a project (never to go further) be halted, because of terrible reception.

Terisa de morgan · 06-28-2023, 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

I wonder if the sites where these types of reviews were posted were hosted in the EU if they could get away with it (without say a header saying "Spoof" or similar)

How is a EU site related to private reviews? We are not talking about paid reviews, we are talking about private persons expressing their opinions. Shouldn't they? Should the government decide if you can rate/review a book with a glowing star if you're interested? Sorry, too much censorship for an European citizen (I hope).

Lynx-lynx · 06-28-2023, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

How is a EU site related to private reviews? We are not talking about paid reviews, we are talking about private persons expressing their opinions. Shouldn't they? Should the government decide if you can rate/review a book with a glowing star if you're interested? Sorry, too much censorship for an European citizen (I hope).

Yep, but these "books" that have been "reviewed" don't exist. My guess is that if someone complained to the Web site that the "reviews" should be labelled with 'Spoof review' or whatever, and no action was taken, that there'd be some body to complain to in the potpourri myriad of EU regulations

Terisa de morgan · 06-28-2023, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Yep, but these "books" that have been "reviewed" don't exist. My guess is that if someone complained to the Web site that the "reviews" should be labelled with 'Spoof review' or whatever, and no action was taken, that there'd be some body to complain to in the potpourri myriad of EU regulations

Private citizens? Sorry, you're asking about too much censorship her. BTW, if you're are not able to look at the publishing date, or searching them for purchase... your blame.

BionicGecko · 06-29-2023, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Private citizens? Sorry, you're asking about too much censorship her. BTW, if you're are not able to look at the publishing date, or searching them for purchase... your blame.

The EU doesn't mess around when it comes to consumer protection laws. Reviews of a not-yet available product can certainly be considered false advertising, unless the product is clearly labeled "Preview" or something like that, and clearly separated from the actual product when it does come out (as the content might have changed in the meantime). This is not censorship, it's protection of consumers against market manipulation.

Lynx-lynx · 06-29-2023, 06:21 AM

This ↑

John F · 06-29-2023, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

The EU doesn't mess around when it comes to consumer protection laws. Reviews of a not-yet available product can certainly be considered false advertising, unless the product is clearly labeled "Preview" or something like that, and clearly separated from the actual product when it does come out (as the content might have changed in the meantime). This is not censorship, it's protection of consumers against market manipulation.

Any guesses as to why the EU hasn't done anything?

No upset MR EU users have lodged complaints? EU todo list to long?

Terisa de morgan · 06-29-2023, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

The EU doesn't mess around when it comes to consumer protection laws. Reviews of a not-yet available product can certainly be considered false advertising, unless the product is clearly labeled "Preview" or something like that, and clearly separated from the actual product when it does come out (as the content might have changed in the meantime). This is not censorship, it's protection of consumers against market manipulation.

We are not talking about consumer protection here. We are talking about private review for a book with a clear publishing date in the future. If EU messes with it, I think it's overstepping the protection a lot and going into censorship.

Terisa de morgan · 06-29-2023, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John F

Any guesses as to why the EU hasn't done anything?

No upset MR EU users have lodged complaints? EU todo list to long?

Complaints about a network including reviews for non published books? Really? This is really going over first world problems, seriously.

meeera · 06-29-2023, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

The EU doesn't mess around when it comes to consumer protection laws. Reviews of a not-yet available product can certainly be considered false advertising

Do you realise Goodreads is a social media site made up of users, not a set of advertisements paid for by publishers/authors?

False advertising by whom? When people talk about "false advertising" they are usually talking about the actual company lying about their product, or people they have directly paid or compensated lying.

And are you talking about star ratings (which Goodreads has ALWAYS clearly said are completely up to the user to decide how to use) or actual reviews stating that they have read the book?

No-one's consumer rights are being trampled here.

theducks · 06-29-2023, 11:21 AM

Many Social sites have more than 1 source of content.

IMHO Paid Ad Content would be liable to these controls. (Site try and sidestep this by claiming 'we don't control WHICH ADS get shown' (True, but they do control what Ad provider the sign up with.)
With mixed content, Policing is a nightmare

, so I can see enforcement being reactive (Loads of complaints) based.

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10-17-2022, 08:58 PM	#121
Rellwood Library Breeder (She/Her) Posts: 1,272 Karma: 1937891 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Fullerton, California Device: Paperwhite 2015 (2), PW 2024 (12 GEN), PW 2023 (11 GEN), Scribe (1st)	And Another Thing.... If you add multiple time/dates read for a book manually - ie. not on your Kindle through Amazon...They don't list that time/date on their library exports nor do they let any api capture that date either. Only the dates that are added through the Kindles are shown if there is more than one date. The site will list the correct extra dates, but if you try to get the library export it won't show the newest date read. This only happens when you enter the date through the site and not with an Amazon purchased Kindle Book.

06-27-2023, 11:21 AM	#124
TheSmitty Addict Posts: 321 Karma: 1181422 Join Date: Dec 2017 Location: DFW, TX area Device: Kindle Colorsoft, Libra Colour, Voyage, iPad Pro 11, iPad Mini 7	Yeah, I wish they would not allow reviews for a book not published lol. I do like goodreads for tracking the books I read, when and my review. I do look at the star ratings for books I am considering but GoodReads is only one of the places I check.

06-29-2023, 06:21 AM	#130
Lynx-lynx Treachery of images ... Posts: 4,122 Karma: 93720365 Join Date: May 2012 Location: Australia Device: Sony 650, Kobo Glo, H2O, Aura One, Forma, Libra 2, Libra Colour	This ↑

06-29-2023, 11:21 AM	#135
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,080 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Many Social sites have more than 1 source of content. IMHO Paid Ad Content would be liable to these controls. (Site try and sidestep this by claiming 'we don't control WHICH ADS get shown' (True, but they do control what Ad provider the sign up with.) With mixed content, Policing is a nightmare , so I can see enforcement being reactive (Loads of complaints) based.