Books missing on Amazon

DNSB · 06-14-2026, 03:56 PM

Since late yesterday, I've received 3 emails from authors whose entire content on Amazon disappeared. As one said, two days ago, you could find 24 of his books on Amazon and in KU. Yesterday, no books at all. As you can imagine, this is doing nothing for their income streams.

One has a nasty suspicion that Amazon is testing an new algorithm to weed out AI content and the algorithm decided their books written over the last 14 years are AI generated though as they mention, their suspicion runs into one "aithor" who has published 23 books in KU over the last 6 weeks and is still to be found.

Amazon support says they are working on the issue and it should be fixed "Real Soon Now".

Desertway · 06-14-2026, 04:29 PM

This glut of AI produced garbage is such a nightmare for authors. On the one hand, their work gets buried under a mountain of crap. On the other, they can become the targets of AI witch hunts. I feel for them.

haertig · 06-14-2026, 04:53 PM

Or it could just be an Amazon software glitch. I have had a few instances where my personal "Wish Lists" and "Purchase History" have gone missing (yes, I was successfully logged into my account when this behavior was observed). Then the next day, they were back.

The author's disappearing books may not be related to AI, algorithms, punishment or anything like that. Just a stupid software glitch or technical outage. The key thing to look for is "Was it fixed quickly after being reported?" and "Does it happen again?" The answer to these questions will determine if further investigation (or "internet outrage") is warranted/justified.

salamanderjuice · 06-14-2026, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haertig

Or it could just be an Amazon software glitch. I have had a few instances where my personal "Wish Lists" and "Purchase History" have gone missing (yes, I was successfully logged into my account when this behavior was observed). Then the next day, they were back.

The author's disappearing books may not be related to AI, algorithms, punishment or anything like that. Just a stupid software glitch or technical outage. The key thing to look for is "Was it fixed quickly after being reported?" and "Does it happen again?" The answer to these questions will determine if further investigation (or "internet outrage") is warranted/justified.

I can't imagine any serious AI book removal scheme would remove books published before 2022 either. Glitch, or some other problem like copyright infringement or broke some platform rule.

bcholfin · 06-14-2026, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

One has a nasty suspicion that Amazon is testing an new algorithm to weed out AI content .

There's no 'algorithm' any more. Amazon is just vibe-coding guano until it breaks. They literally built a second AI system to review the crap from the first AI system. Apparently, they are unfamiliar with "if you are in a hole, stop digging."

j.p.s · 06-14-2026, 06:53 PM

I can. What about an AI book removal scheme that uses AI to do the identifying and removing.

Of course, amazon's back end has been glitchy for years, so glitch is always a possibility.

06-14-2026, 03:56 PM	#1
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 52,430 Karma: 180944990 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	Books missing on Amazon Since late yesterday, I've received 3 emails from authors whose entire content on Amazon disappeared. As one said, two days ago, you could find 24 of his books on Amazon and in KU. Yesterday, no books at all. As you can imagine, this is doing nothing for their income streams. One has a nasty suspicion that Amazon is testing an new algorithm to weed out AI content and the algorithm decided their books written over the last 14 years are AI generated though as they mention, their suspicion runs into one "aithor" who has published 23 books in KU over the last 6 weeks and is still to be found. Amazon support says they are working on the issue and it should be fixed "Real Soon Now".

06-14-2026, 04:29 PM	#2
Desertway Addict Posts: 386 Karma: 3070182 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Oasis 3, K3, Kobo Clara, Likebook P6	This glut of AI produced garbage is such a nightmare for authors. On the one hand, their work gets buried under a mountain of crap. On the other, they can become the targets of AI witch hunts. I feel for them. Last edited by Desertway; 06-14-2026 at 04:59 PM.

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06-14-2026, 04:53 PM	#3
haertig Wizard Posts: 2,035 Karma: 36586022 Join Date: Sep 2017 Device: PW3, Galaxy Tab A9+, Galaxy S25FE	Or it could just be an Amazon software glitch. I have had a few instances where my personal "Wish Lists" and "Purchase History" have gone missing (yes, I was successfully logged into my account when this behavior was observed). Then the next day, they were back. The author's disappearing books may not be related to AI, algorithms, punishment or anything like that. Just a stupid software glitch or technical outage. The key thing to look for is "Was it fixed quickly after being reported?" and "Does it happen again?" The answer to these questions will determine if further investigation (or "internet outrage") is warranted/justified.

06-14-2026, 06:53 PM	#6
j.p.s Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,029 Karma: 107275331 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: pb360	I can. What about an AI book removal scheme that uses AI to do the identifying and removing. Of course, amazon's back end has been glitchy for years, so glitch is always a possibility.

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