Online book reviews, particularly those on Amazon, the undisputed giant of book marketing, are indispensable. But the tsunami of fake reviews could change all that.
So what is Amazon doing to correct the problem? First consider what the US Federal Trade Commission has done. This past August, the FTC announced a new policy meant to identify and punish those publishing fake reviews. I hope it works, but it will come down to how effective is law enforcement. Amazon knows this is a problem they must address as well, which I assume they believe they are doing with a recent revision to their review policy. The following is the lead statement of that policy, you can review it all by clicking on the link. "How We Keep Reviews Trustworthy and Useful To ensure only genuine customers post reviews, we have submission requirements. Only customers who have spent at least $50 on Amazon in the last 12 months can submit ratings and reviews." That will help by only allowing reviews from those who have bought something on Amazon. But how it prevents those who buy anything other than the book or product they wish to review is beyond me. The Situation in Australia A woman living in Australia bought The Unlived Lives of Raymond Quinn from Amazon Australia. She contacted me, to say she enjoyed it, tried to review it, and was prevented from doing so because she was less than two dollars Australian from the fifty dollar minimum requirement. So she bought a second copy to be used as a gift, and tried again to leave a review, and again was prevented from doing so. She called Amazon and was told she had two accounts in her name, neither of which had the amount required to enable her to leave a review. In total, the two exceeded the fifty dollar minimum, separately they did not. She requested that since both accounts were in her name, they be combined. Amazon refused siting "policy" as the reason. I benefit from an additional book sale, but the value of that woman's review would have been much greater. She's not happy, I'm not happy. Amazon, are you sure you don't want to take another look at your entire fake review policy?
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AuthorIn addition to writing, William Matthies' accomplishments include earning a lifetime ban from Catalina Island at 13, viewing Earth from 80,000 feet during a Mach 2.5 flight in a supersonic Russian aircraft, and remaining an absolute beginner after “playing” guitar for more than three decades. Archives
February 2025
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