Kobos personalized book offerings, recommendations etc.

Anak · 06-27-2013, 05:12 PM

My fustrations of Kobos personalized book offerings, recommendations etc.

1. marking books as "not interested" or "already read";
2. rating books that have been read;
3. book genres that I will not read ever

This doesn't stop Kobo from offering these marked books over and over again.
They randomly show up under "similar books you reading", "featured" or "new releases" (in case of a rerelease). Regardless how many times I've stated that I was not interested in that particular book.
Or get genre specific recommendations. E.g. I've never read science fiction books in my life, never opened a science fiction book on the Kobo webiste, or read a book preview or stated that I was interested in this genre. On the contrary, I've always marked science fiction books as "not interested". But without avail, Kobo keeps pushing this genre (and others too).

4. Offering books in foreign languages

Kobo keeps offering books in foreign languages like Italian and German (or any language that is not your native and/or local language), while I never ever bought or looked at books that are written in Italian or German.
Even that I can read German, I don't read German books. I do read German magazines but that is totally not releated to Kobo.
Kobos policy seems to be that users should be offered books no matter what. If there are not enough books to offer in the local language then offer them in a foreign language. Regardless a user is interested or can actually read that specific foreign language.

This is probably not an issue if you local language is English.

5. Try to sell me a book that I've already bought

They occasionally even try to make me buy a book that I already bought in the Kobo store.
It is very unlikely that I will buy a second copy of a book that I've already bought in the Kobo shop or a book that I have marked as "already read" or "not interested".
Or, when I rate a book it means that I've read it! Don't keep offering me those books. I will not buy them.

The current implementation of book offerings is not functioning very well.
The conversion rate between "personalized book recommendations" and "actual book sales based on these recommendations" must be very low because it contains to much noise. In this case noise means garbage.

paola · 06-27-2013, 05:59 PM

3. and 5. have happened to me, too, but the "not interested" does make the book disappear instantly. I am in the UK, in case that makes any difference. "Already read" has zero effect - well, actually it does have an effect, it is annoying

bookaho!ic · 06-28-2013, 09:06 AM

I sent kobo an email as if I mark a book as already read it would not take them off the list. Their only offering was. We don't know maybe just an issue with you account and try setting another one up. Now I just mark stuff as not interested but it still does not sto them pooping up

mr_nihilism · 06-28-2013, 09:29 AM

And you're using a Kobo Touch? On the Arc all those issues are increased exponentially.

"It reads you like a book" Yeah, whatever.

MikeB1972 · 06-28-2013, 03:48 PM

"Already read" does sod all for me on the website but does work on the droid app and the devices, takes as while for the synch to update everything by though.

Witty Username · 06-29-2013, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anak

If there are not enough books to offer in the local language then offer them in a foreign language. Regardless a user is interested or can actually read that specific foreign language.

This is probably not an issue if you local language is English.

Hah! This is Kobo recommendations we are talking about!
I am in England, I log in to the Kobo UK site, I only ever read books in English, I've never even looked at any foreign language books.

Kobo keep recommending books in Dutch...

DNSB · 06-29-2013, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witty Username

Hah! This is Kobo recommendations we are talking about!
I am in England, I log in to the Kobo UK site, I only ever read books in English, I've never even looked at any foreign language books.

Kobo keep recommending books in Dutch...

I'll trade the Dutch books for the romance novels that Kobo keeps recommending to me. As you said, I never look at them, I never buy them. So its a mystery as to why instead of fantasy, science fiction and/or mystery recommendations, I get romance novels with a heavy emphasis on historical romances.

Regards,
David

Anak · 06-30-2013, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Witty Username

Hah! This is Kobo recommendations we are talking about!
I am in England, I log in to the Kobo UK site, I only ever read books in English, I've never even looked at any foreign language books.

Kobo keep recommending books in Dutch...

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

I'll trade the Dutch books for the romance novels that Kobo keeps recommending to me. As you said, I never look at them, I never buy them. So its a mystery as to why instead of fantasy, science fiction and/or mystery recommendations, I get romance novels with a heavy emphasis on historical romances.

Regards,
David

Guess Kobos priority should shift to the recommendations algorithm instead of improving shop integration.
A recommendations mismatch with a users personal reading habits or preferences (language, genres, purchase history, gender, sideloaded books etc.) is (almost) certainly a no sale.

Tachikoma · 07-01-2013, 08:15 AM

I love getting recommendations for books I have already read and rated. It makes my day when I have to trawl through half of my finished book collection in the recommended for you section just to find something that I have not already read and might take my fancy.

Witty Username · 07-01-2013, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tachikoma

I love getting recommendations for books I have already read and rated. It makes my day when I have to trawl through half of my finished book collection in the recommended for you section just to find something that I have not already read and might take my fancy.

I think you need one of these:

06-27-2013, 05:12 PM	#1
Anak Guru Posts: 600 Karma: 641742 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: DE Device: Kobo Glo	Kobos personalized book offerings, recommendations etc. My fustrations of Kobos personalized book offerings, recommendations etc. 1. marking books as "not interested" or "already read"; 2. rating books that have been read; 3. book genres that I will not read ever This doesn't stop Kobo from offering these marked books over and over again. They randomly show up under "similar books you reading", "featured" or "new releases" (in case of a rerelease). Regardless how many times I've stated that I was not interested in that particular book. Or get genre specific recommendations. E.g. I've never read science fiction books in my life, never opened a science fiction book on the Kobo webiste, or read a book preview or stated that I was interested in this genre. On the contrary, I've always marked science fiction books as "not interested". But without avail, Kobo keeps pushing this genre (and others too). 4. Offering books in foreign languages Kobo keeps offering books in foreign languages like Italian and German (or any language that is not your native and/or local language), while I never ever bought or looked at books that are written in Italian or German. Even that I can read German, I don't read German books. I do read German magazines but that is totally not releated to Kobo. Kobos policy seems to be that users should be offered books no matter what. If there are not enough books to offer in the local language then offer them in a foreign language. Regardless a user is interested or can actually read that specific foreign language. This is probably not an issue if you local language is English. 5. Try to sell me a book that I've already bought They occasionally even try to make me buy a book that I already bought in the Kobo store. It is very unlikely that I will buy a second copy of a book that I've already bought in the Kobo shop or a book that I have marked as "already read" or "not interested". Or, when I rate a book it means that I've read it! Don't keep offering me those books. I will not buy them. The current implementation of book offerings is not functioning very well. The conversion rate between "personalized book recommendations" and "actual book sales based on these recommendations" must be very low because it contains to much noise. In this case noise means garbage. Last edited by Anak; 06-27-2013 at 05:22 PM.

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06-27-2013, 05:59 PM	#2
paola Wizard Posts: 2,840 Karma: 5843878 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: UK Device: Pocketbook Pro 903, (beloved Pocketbook 360 RIP), Kobo Mini, Kobo Aura	3. and 5. have happened to me, too, but the "not interested" does make the book disappear instantly. I am in the UK, in case that makes any difference. "Already read" has zero effect - well, actually it does have an effect, it is annoying

06-28-2013, 09:06 AM	#3
bookaho!ic Evangelist Posts: 466 Karma: 5575734 Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: UK Device: kobo Aura H20 2nd Ed	I sent kobo an email as if I mark a book as already read it would not take them off the list. Their only offering was. We don't know maybe just an issue with you account and try setting another one up. Now I just mark stuff as not interested but it still does not sto them pooping up

06-28-2013, 09:29 AM	#4
mr_nihilism Always been the caretaker Posts: 479 Karma: 1406369 Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Canada Device: Aura H2O, PW2	And you're using a Kobo Touch? On the Arc all those issues are increased exponentially. "It reads you like a book" Yeah, whatever.

06-28-2013, 03:48 PM	#5
MikeB1972 Gnu Posts: 1,222 Karma: 15625359 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: UK Device: BeBook,JetBook Lite,PRS-300-350-505-650,+ran out of space to type	"Already read" does sod all for me on the website but does work on the droid app and the devices, takes as while for the synch to update everything by though.

07-01-2013, 08:15 AM	#9
Tachikoma Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 18402 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	I love getting recommendations for books I have already read and rated. It makes my day when I have to trawl through half of my finished book collection in the recommended for you section just to find something that I have not already read and might take my fancy.

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