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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 > 2010 > June > 10 > Entry
Amazon scrubs a bogus “customer reviewer”
Some readers of this blog might recall my posts about Amazon.com’s customer reviewers. Amazon.com has a fabulous system of allowing customers to review books and anything that Amazon sells on their website.
Unfortunately, Amazon’s system can be easily abused. I have written about Harriet Klausner, Amazon’s leading customer reviewer. Harriet “reads” and “reviews” books on Amazon.com by the thousands. Unbelievable, right? I even did an interview on NPR’s “All Things Considered” about Harriet and Amazon’s customer reviewing system.
Let it be said that Amazon does make some efforts to police their site. I just saw a blog post that indicates how some bogus reviews from one PR firm have now been scrubbed by Amazon. This is a very interesting development. click HERE:
How did I learn about this blog post? A PR firm sent it to me (of course!)
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: in the Amazone
Comments
By Blowfly
June 11, 2010 11:43 AM | Link to this
The other thing to keep in mind is that the FTC recently enacted its guidelines requiring online publishers to disclose “material connections” they have with a company whose products or services they “endorse.” That is putting pressure on highly profile sites like Amazon to police this sort of thing better. It’s never a good thing when regulators get involved, but you sure don’t want to on the FTC’s wrong side
By H. Lee
June 11, 2010 10:16 AM | Link to this
Max, I agree “the internet” in general is outside those conventions of honesty, but individual sites can state and enforce their own standards. Amazon’s policy makes it clear to all reviewers that such behavior is a no-no and such reviews will be eliminated. I’m glad Amazon enforced the policy on this character, since her intent was to defraud other Amazon users by persuading them that the books she was selling had been judged as wonderful by impartial readers.
By vick
June 10, 2010 1:46 PM | Link to this
Max, the net is filled with scams. Even so, it is good to know who is scamming who. Amazon.com runs a reputable website, one of the best. Knowing that they are also vulnerable to this kind of bogus marketing scam is just good to know. Buyers beware. Amazon customer reviews do influence sales.
By Max
June 10, 2010 1:35 PM | Link to this
Vick, I guess my two reactions are I’m not suprised and, well, this isn’t new. The artist, Robert Motherwell, often wrote ‘reviews’ of his own work through a ‘pseudo-personna’….long before the internet arrived. Then, there was the ‘payola’ corruption of critics and book reviewers shaping their products according to the highest bidder. While I agree there is an ethical/creditablity issue to consider in the big picture, isn’t the internet generally outside those conventions anyway?