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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2007 > April > 14
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Amazon.com book reviewer shakeout
Here’s an update on the customer reviewer hubbub that I have been monitoring over at Amazon.com.
I have written a couple of blog posts about this situation. These posts stirred up a storm of comments, over 100 to date.
My first post, The Mysterious Harriet Klausner, was inspired by some research I conducted. Harriet Klausner is the #1 customer reviewer at Amazon.com. She reviews an astounding quantity of books. Apparently, I’m not the only person who has doubts about her prodigious reading. A second post, Bogus Book Reviews on Amazon.com?, attracted more comments and information.
As comments came rolling in there were two other Amazon Top Ten customer reviewers who were mentioned. These reviewers also aroused skepticism for their reviewing “feats.” The #6 reviewer, John “Gunny” Matlock, reviews many highly technical books. His reviews are frequently filled with spelling errors. It was pointed out by some commenters that this reviewer also had a presence on Amazon as a bookseller where he routinely sold the same obscure books he claimed to have just reviewed. Most tellingly, he described the books he had just reviewed as “unread.”
The #9 reviewer, a fellow named Grady Harp, attracted attention because every time he posted a review he automatically got 30 to 40 votes of approval of his review from other Amazon “customers.” I checked and it is true. Rather suspicious.
So, what has happened since this little investigation was launched? Well, as of this moment, the prolific Harriet Klausner, has written only 2 reviews in the last 5 days. To put that number in perspective; Harriet has posted as many as 40 book reviews in one day in recent weeks. 2 reviews in 5 days is a significant reduction. Is this merely a coincidence? Hard to tell.
An e-mail was sent to “Gunny” the #6 reviewer. It was sent to the seller of the books that “Gunny” had supposedly reviewed. The e-mail asked how “Gunny” could review books and then sell them as “Unread.” The book in question was a cookbook.He responded. Here is his reply: “Good Question. As I said, it was ‘inspected.’ I flipped through it, inspecting the quality of the paper, the printing, and to a lessor extent the content. It’s pretty easy to see how she did recipies. On other books, multiple copies.”
Harriet Klausner has not responded to her critics. “Gunny” has shown some courage and has posted comments on Amazon in response to the criticism. The other day he was asked (on Amazon) if he actually reads the books that he reviews. Here is his response as it appears on Amazon: “John Matlock- In reply to an earlier post To answer your $64,000 question — No. At last count we have some 27 reviewers. Some list reviews on Amazon under their own name. Most don’t want their name used in public (and after watching you guys at work I can see why), and their reviews are listed under my name. We only put the reviews on Amazon as a public service. The reviews are written for our newsletter and our own web sites. Since it seems to cause you so much grief, we’ve decided to stop sending the reviews to Amazon. It’s been fun.Bye”
I just looked at the most recent reviews from #9, Grady Harp. Suddenly, they are not getting 30 to 40 positive votes right away. They are only getting 10 to 12 positive votes now. Very interesting, eh?
So, Harriet Klausner has severely curtailed her reviewing for the moment. John “Gunny” Matlock has admitted that his reviews were actually being produced by a consortium of 27 reviewers and he claims to be resigning as an Amazon reviewer. Grady Harp has suddenly started getting fewer votes of approval for his reviews.
The majority of comments that have been posted on these threads indicate that the Amazon customer reviewer system needs to be changed so that these perceived abuses by reviewers can be curtailed.
Obviously, Amazon is in the business of selling books, and millions of other items. The Amazon system of customer reviews is a wonderful idea and a great way for Amazon to enhance revenue and create a sense of democracy among their clientele.
As in any democracy, there are abuses. Amazon owns this particular democracy and any meaningful attempts to prevent abuse of the customer reviewer system must come from Amazon.
Which begs this question: DO THEY CARE?
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