Amazon bans reviews based on free or discounted products - Page 2

DiapDealer · 10-04-2016, 01:22 PM

To be quite frank: I'm tired of seeing the phrase "I received this book in exchange for an honest review." When encountered, it causes me to immediately skip to the next review.

HarryT · 10-04-2016, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

To be quite frank: I'm tired of seeing the phrase "I received this book in exchange for an honest review." When encountered, it causes me to immediately skip to the next review.

Same here. My automatic reaction is that the review will be biased.

jswinden · 10-04-2016, 02:11 PM

Personally, I'm tired of seeing reviews that are so professional looking that they scream "not real" to me. Most reviews by actual buyers are likely to have at least one or more typos, not be well organized, and not really be that useful. We see a lot of "I gave this product 1 star because the box was smashed when I received it." Or the reviewer trashes the product but doesn't really explain what the actual faults are. Or they gush all about the product but give no reasons why they think it is so great. And perhaps my favorite, they trash a product because it doesn't have a particular feature when in fact it is advertised as not having that feature. Duh! But when you see a review that was well thought out, well worded and organized, is quite lengthy, and has professional looking photos attached, you have to question exactly who, or what pro, wrote that review. Those just seem too professional for the average buyer.

For me though, the most useful reviews take the time to fully explain any issues the buyer has encountered.

Josieb1 · 10-04-2016, 02:14 PM

I was always very picky what books I would agree to review so that's why most of my review were positive.

shalym · 10-04-2016, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Krazykiwi

Notably, books are exempt from this according to the article.

Exactly. This is from the article:

Quote:

The only exceptions to the new rules are books—Amazon will "continue to allow the age-old practice of providing advance review copies"

Shari

HarryT · 10-04-2016, 02:29 PM

That's regrettable.

Josieb1 · 10-04-2016, 02:34 PM

In the defence of ebook reviewers I am sure some are biased but most of us (including me when I wrote reviews) didn't lie or embellish what we felt in our reviews, we tried to be honest and certainly on Prism no one shyed away from a bad review. Just me

I hurt an author very early on in my reviewing when I DNF'd a book and I didn't want to do that again.

howyoudoin · 10-04-2016, 02:39 PM

It's a positive change overall. I can live with Amazon excluding their advance copies from the change so long as the explicit disclaimer by the reviewer exists. It's less than ideal, but clearing up of any amount of clutter is welcome.

Next change needs to be making the star graphs reflect the selection of "Show only verified purchase reviews". That would permit an "at a glance" reflection of the general view of the product by only verified purchasers.

howyoudoin · 10-04-2016, 02:51 PM

If I recall correctly, there was a study that found that such reviews were 12 times less likely than regular reviews to be negatively disposed to the product. I do not know if it accounted for the selection bias inherent in the group of regular reviewers (you know how the proportion of negative posts on ereaders on MR should not be taken as representative of the general quality of the ereader because people with unsatisfactory experiences are more likely to voice their opinion?).

BearMountainBooks · 10-04-2016, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

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"?).

Yeah, I have. I actually heard about one case from the author who complained to a few of us privately. She isn't the only one. Off the top of my head, I can think of two other instances.

That's not to negate your point, which is valid, but I have seen more than one review that said, "I received a copy in exchange for an honest review" that were two stars or under.

BearMountainBooks · 10-04-2016, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

That's regrettable.

You mean ARCS? Obviously I like being able to provide ARCS, but the real reason is because ad places REQUIRE there be reviews or they won't do an ad. As writers, we want ads at release. If ad places didn't have reviews as a requirement, I wouldn't care, but with much of the industry having done it for years, it would be pretty hard to change it.

I don't think this change will mean more honest reviews. It's just a control thing and is more likely to hurt the competition and/or force the competition pay directly into Amazon's Vine program--pay to play. That's not a good thing.

HarryT · 10-04-2016, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BearMountainBooks

Yeah, I have. I actually heard about one case from the author who complained to a few of us privately. She isn't the only one. Off the top of my head, I can think of two other instances.

Doesn't your example rather illustrate my point, though? If an author complained about receiving a poor review, it suggests that she assumed that if she gave someone a free review copy the inevitable result would be a positive review.

BearMountainBooks · 10-04-2016, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Doesn't your example rather illustrate my point, though? If an author complained about receiving a poor review, it suggests that she assumed that if she gave someone a free review copy the inevitable result would be a positive review.

Well, no. It wasn't that she expected a positive review, she was merely crushed that she got a bad review! Her complaints were mostly looking for sympathy.

ALL AUTHORS think they have written something worthwhile so a part of us expects reviews to be positive. We wouldn't put the book out there otherwise! It has very little to do with ARCs versus, review sites, versus total strangers.

That said, I did get a pretty poor review from a review site for...Tracking Magic, I think it was. I don't remember if it was two or three stars, but either way I remember the review stung. I was not dumb enough to send that site anything else to review. That is not to say I only send out ARCs to gain positive reviews, but I am not going to go looking for people who don't really like my work anyway!!!

Ravensknight · 10-04-2016, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I hurt an author very early on in my reviewing when I DNF'd a book and I didn't want to do that again.

[bold mine]

I WISH I could do that to writers. Maybe it would help weed out some of the utter trash producers.

BearMountainBooks · 10-04-2016, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ravensknight

[bold mine]

I WISH I could do that to writers. Maybe it would help weed out some of the utter trash producers.

We writers are pretty thick-skinned. We have to be or we'd never even hit publish. So don't try too hard.

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10-04-2016, 01:22 PM	#16
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,577 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	To be quite frank: I'm tired of seeing the phrase "I received this book in exchange for an honest review." When encountered, it causes me to immediately skip to the next review.

10-04-2016, 02:11 PM	#18
jswinden Nameless Being	Personally, I'm tired of seeing reviews that are so professional looking that they scream "not real" to me. Most reviews by actual buyers are likely to have at least one or more typos, not be well organized, and not really be that useful. We see a lot of "I gave this product 1 star because the box was smashed when I received it." Or the reviewer trashes the product but doesn't really explain what the actual faults are. Or they gush all about the product but give no reasons why they think it is so great. And perhaps my favorite, they trash a product because it doesn't have a particular feature when in fact it is advertised as not having that feature. Duh! But when you see a review that was well thought out, well worded and organized, is quite lengthy, and has professional looking photos attached, you have to question exactly who, or what pro, wrote that review. Those just seem too professional for the average buyer. For me though, the most useful reviews take the time to fully explain any issues the buyer has encountered.

10-04-2016, 02:14 PM	#19
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,086 Karma: 18051062 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kindle Scribe, Coloursoft, PW SE, Kindle 6, Kobo Libra 2	I was always very picky what books I would agree to review so that's why most of my review were positive.

10-04-2016, 02:29 PM	#21
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	That's regrettable.

10-04-2016, 02:34 PM	#22
Josieb1 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,086 Karma: 18051062 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: UK Device: Kindle Scribe, Coloursoft, PW SE, Kindle 6, Kobo Libra 2	In the defence of ebook reviewers I am sure some are biased but most of us (including me when I wrote reviews) didn't lie or embellish what we felt in our reviews, we tried to be honest and certainly on Prism no one shyed away from a bad review. Just me I hurt an author very early on in my reviewing when I DNF'd a book and I didn't want to do that again.

10-04-2016, 02:39 PM	#23
howyoudoin how YOU doin? Posts: 1,100 Karma: 7371047 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: India Device: Kindle Keyboard, iPad Pro 10.5”, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Libra 2	It's a positive change overall. I can live with Amazon excluding their advance copies from the change so long as the explicit disclaimer by the reviewer exists. It's less than ideal, but clearing up of any amount of clutter is welcome. Next change needs to be making the star graphs reflect the selection of "Show only verified purchase reviews". That would permit an "at a glance" reflection of the general view of the product by only verified purchasers.

10-04-2016, 02:51 PM	#24
howyoudoin how YOU doin? Posts: 1,100 Karma: 7371047 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: India Device: Kindle Keyboard, iPad Pro 10.5”, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Libra 2	If I recall correctly, there was a study that found that such reviews were 12 times less likely than regular reviews to be negatively disposed to the product. I do not know if it accounted for the selection bias inherent in the group of regular reviewers (you know how the proportion of negative posts on ereaders on MR should not be taken as representative of the general quality of the ereader because people with unsatisfactory experiences are more likely to voice their opinion?).

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