Amazon Censors Negative Reviews of Pelosi's Book -- Big Time

[m1911owner]

I just looked at Pelosi's new book on Amazon, and they've massively censored the reviews.  A couple days ago, there were over 200 one-star reviews, and 10 five-star reviews.  Maybe four in between.  It looks like they kept about 4 of the 5-star reviews, exactly one token 1-star review, and deleted everything else.

It's back up to 30 reviews now.  Again, virtually all of the ones added since the edit have been one star.

[Werewolf]

Arghghghhghhghgh!!!!

Until 30 seconds ago I actually relied on and trusted Amazon reviews for books, electronics and games.

Oh - well - another bubble burst, a parade rained on and I can feel the blue bird of paradise trying to fly up my nose.

And then there's the whole should I buy from Amazon now thing? I hate censorship. There's nothing I can buy there I can't buy somewhere else - just less convenient.

Maybe there's more to the story. Maybe most of the 1 star reviews were just mean, hateful crap written by illiterate boobs. Maybe?

or maybe Amazon is a left wing schill for the demonrats?

Arghghghghghgh!

[Manedwolf]

Arghghghhghhghgh!!!!

Until 30 seconds ago I actually relied on and trusted Amazon reviews for books, electronics and games.

Oh - well - another bubble burst, a parade rained on and I can feel the blue bird of paradise trying to fly up my nose.

And then there's the whole should I buy from Amazon now thing? I hate censorship. There's nothing I can buy there I can't buy somewhere else - just less convenient.

Maybe there's more to the story. Maybe most of the 1 star reviews were just mean, hateful crap written by illiterate boobs. Maybe?

or maybe Amazon is a left wing schill for the demonrats?

Arghghghghghgh!

Trusted? They're in the business of selling mass quantities of books. They can't sell mass quantities of books if the reviews are all negative.

[RocketMan]

Actually, there were over 1400 reviews, IIRC, a few days ago.  I looked at the stats, and only a handful were five star, a like amount were four, three and two star.  The rest, over 1400, were one star.
Many of those might have resulted from an organized campaign trying to discredit her book.
Or, maybe not.  It is supposed to be pretty bad from what other sources are saying.

[m1911owner]

If it was up over 1400 negative reviews, then I'll grudgingly concede that it may have been appropriate to blow them all away and start over.  It doesn't appear that she's sold 1400 copies of the book, so one can reasonably conclude that many of those negative reviews were fictitious.

Interesting, though, is the curious absence of positive reviews from Pelosi supporters.

[longeyes]

Does the book talk about her political education in the wards of Baltimore?  Or just about her days in convent school getting ready to be Mother Superior Pelosi?

As Manedwolf said, Amazon is about selling books, and a tsunami of one-stars ain't gonna do that.

[Werewolf]

Does the book talk about her political education in the wards of Baltimore?  Or just about her days in convent school getting ready to be Mother Superior Pelosi?

As Manedwolf said, Amazon is about selling books, and a tsunami of one-stars ain't gonna do that.

Except that Amazon's business model is more that of a broker/drop shipper than one that buys books for resale. And even if Amazon does buy books for resale don't publishers buy back inventory that doesn't move?

If that is true (and I am not sure it is) then Amazon doesn't really have a dog in that race: in other words, good, bad, or indifferent doesn't matter to them business wise at all.

[Bigjake]

Pelosi is literate?

[MechAg94]

Pelosi is literate?

I think so, but if those face lifts ever gave way, she would be effectively blind. 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Much as I despise Pelosi, I can't really fault Amazon here.  Their rating system is supposed to be a service to their customers, not a soap-box for all of us who dislike the woman.

[K Frame]

Not politics. Moving to Round Table.

[Boomhauer]

not a soap-box for all of us who dislike the woman.

Like Obama, that woman can't have enough enemies or bad press...

[FTA84]

I thought the replies were interesting.  Many appear to be written as actual poor reviews.  Typically, in orchestrated commenting you get a bunch of 1 star ratings with little or no commentary.  Most of the (new) posts seem to have a good amount of actual commentary about the book.  Perhaps it was just well orchestrated, or more likely, Amazon is trying to fudge stars.

[Bigjake]

Pelosi is literate?

I think so, but if those face lifts ever gave way, she would be effectively blind. 

True, but I'd sooner settle for mute.

[FiveBillionAcres]

I'm a pretty big Amazon fan, I've spent probably $15,000 on Amazon.com in the last few years, enough to get a cheesy form letter Christmas card from Jeff Bezos a couple years ago anyways.

It's pretty common practice over at Amazon to axe reviews which users mark as not being helpful because they're "not helpful" duh.

They are pretty secretive about their whole voting and ranking system it's a critical part of selling books and gaining consumer confidence, not in that people need to trust that their vote counts but if a product gets 4 out of 5 it's actually a good product.

It seems some people's reviews count more heavily than others; people who are "top reviewers" and people who have bought the book from Amazon seem to get a higher weighting than those who have not.

It's also claimed that 1 star reviews hold only a partial weight of the other reviews because they are more likely to be biased, off the cuff and of course, high reviews sell more books.

It's also speculated that some products even in the same class use different algorithms to generate their "average". I've seen products with just 4 reviews which don't average evenly (out by 0.5 stars) where as others with around 20 do, I've tried to pick it apart but can't.

Also the book has an Amazon.com Sales Rank of #1,364 in Books, that doesn't mean it's sold 1,364 copies that means it's selling VERY well to be the 1364th most popular book on a store with MILLIONS isn't bad. (even if it was written by her) although to be fair we're in a literature slump and new book sales are a bit slow right now, for crying out loud Tori Spelling's book is in 15th

If you want to make a difference, buy the book and review it (also they know if you review it before you've had time to actually have it shipped) and make sure you actually write a decent well rounded review explaining your viewpoint, not just boo it.

If this all depresses you, you might be pleased to know that "The Case Against Barack Obama" is in 20th place and it's still on pre-order until Aug 4th!

To see the top books go here
http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/

[ilbob]

It appears there are well orchestrated efforts at Amazon by people who appreciate certain books by voting negative reviews as not helpful. It would not surprise me at all if they deleted negative reviews in an attempt to sell more books, but its also possible that with 1400 negative reviews saying mostly the same thing, it may be that they got rid of most of them so people did not have to sort through so many reviews.

[Ben]

If you want to make a difference, buy the book and review it (also they know if you review it before you've had time to actually have it shipped) and make sure you actually write a decent well rounded review explaining your viewpoint, not just boo it.

I think this is the biggest reason for any "censorship". Amazon isn't a literary review site, they're a retailer. They want reviews of products they sell. I will NEVER suggest that people buy Pelosi's book and support her drivel, on the other hand, when I use Amazon reviews for buying stuff, I want reviews from people who have bought, used, read, whatever, the product. Reviews from people who want to promote or rail against something for political reasons without having invested in the product don't help me make a decision as a consumer of that product.

There are plenty of websites I can go to that are politically oriented similar to me, where a trusted reviewer has taken the bullet for me and read her book, and I can read their synopsis, which is more worthwhile to me than 10,000 anonymous Amazon reviews, pro or con.

[taurusowner]

I actually met Pelosi yesterday.  She was in Ann Arbor doing a book signing and interview at Borders.  I was part of a crowd control security detail.  Apparently she had about 200 people there to have their books signed.  One of the Borders employees told me when Dog the Bounty Hunter was there, there were over 1200 attendees.  And get this, you had to purchase a copy of "Know Your Power" on site at the Borders to even attend the event.

[FiveBillionAcres]

Did at any point her head roll back and spin around while she projectile vomited and curse freedoms and speak in backwards Latin? Just checking... I always figured that happened off camera.

[wmenorr67]

Drudge was reporting she only sold 2747 books in the first week.  Didn't crack any of the top sellers lists.

[Manedwolf]

I actually met Pelosi yesterday.  She was in Ann Arbor doing a book signing and interview at Borders.  I was part of a crowd control security detail.  Apparently she had about 200 people there to have their books signed.  One of the Borders employees told me when Dog the Bounty Hunter was there, there were over 1200 attendees.  And get this, you had to purchase a copy of "Know Your Power" on site at the Borders to even attend the event.

You should have just sat nearby reading whatever magazine had the scariest-looking rifle possible on it.

[Devonai]

And even if Amazon does buy books for resale don't publishers buy back inventory that doesn't move?

Most do not.

[Desertdog]

8:30 PM, PDT
Just checked Amazon's site for her book and they show 99 reviews for her book.  83 with one star, 1 two star, 0 three star, 2 four star, and 13 five star.

Book price has been lowered from $23.95 to $16.29.

[FiveBillionAcres]

Very interesting, I suspect many of these will stay as they are from legitimate reviewers with many, and higher ranked reviews. This sentiment by the user "William A. Hensler" rings true of why this woman is so dangerous.

"Nancy thinks less of people politically opposed to her than of violent criminals. Crimials act bad because of events in life. Republicans and Conservatives are bad because they think wrong. Actually, it's a little chilling."