{"id":1279,"date":"2018-06-29T11:35:28","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T00:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/?p=1279"},"modified":"2018-06-29T11:35:28","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T00:35:28","slug":"amazon-criticised-for-removing-online-book-reviews-from-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/articles\/2018\/06\/29\/1279\/amazon-criticised-for-removing-online-book-reviews-from-website\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon criticised for removing online book reviews from website"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon has drawn criticism from\u00a0authors, bloggers and publishers for removing reviews from its online book listings,\u00a0reports the\u00a0Bookseller<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to reports, some Amazon customers have had all their reviews removed or are blocked from posting further reviews on the website.\u00a0Amazon has blamed temporary \u2018technical issues\u2019.<\/p>\n

Author Isabella May told the\u00a0Bookseller<\/em>\u00a0that she had had a \u2018hellish week\u2019 of losing reviews for her two novels, published by the small independent press Crooked Cat Books. She explained that the experience of losing 11 reviews of her books listed on Amazon was \u2018quite upsetting\u2019, adding: \u2018For a high-profile author who may no longer feel the need to check their reviews, this is but a drop in the ocean. But for a new voice, it\u2019s everything, and very distressing\u2014particularly as my publisher retail solely online and solely via Amazon\u2019.<\/p>\n

Amazon has developed tools and policies to combat fake reviews amid problems over \u2018reviews for hire\u2019\u2014a practice where individuals post fake reviews on Amazon product pages in exchange for money.<\/p>\n

When May contacted Amazon, she was told the removed reviews would not be brought back online because they were \u2018in violation\u2019 of Amazon\u2019s guidelines. The retailer did not specify which reviews were in violation, but was instead directed towards the company\u2019s lengthy community guidelines\u00a0microsite, which includes a section on how the company \u2018may restrict the ability to submit a review when we detect unusual reviewing behaviour\u2019.<\/p>\n

HarperCollins\u2019 commercial\u00a0publisher\u00a0Kimberley Young told the\u00a0Bookseller\u00a0<\/em>that the removal of reviews enabled Amazon to promote its own books \u2018at the expense of others\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018Writing an honest review on receipt of a proof copy of a book is both an established practice and also a very modern tool,\u2019 Young explained. \u2018Reviews drive word of mouth and help readers find the right books for them\u2019. \u2018We know algorithms favour well-reviewed books,\u2019 she added, suggesting that the removal of reviews across so many titles on Amazon was a decision that ultimately narrows\u00a0\u2019the range and discoverability of books\u2019 online.<\/p>\n

An Amazon spokesperson told the\u00a0Bookseller<\/em>\u00a0that a technical issue last month affected some book reviews, preventing them from being submitted and displayed. \u2018These issues were quickly addressed and we apologise for any inconvenience.\u00a0Customer reviews are one of the most valuable tools we offer customers for making informed purchase decisions and we work hard to make sure they are doing their job\u2019.<\/p>\n

This news story first appeared in <\/em>Books+Publishing<\/a> on 15 June 2018. <\/em>Books+Publishing is Australia’s leading source of print and digital news about the book industry, keeping <\/em>subscribers<\/em><\/a> up to date with the latest industry news, announcements, job advertisements, events, trends and more.<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n
<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amazon has drawn criticism from\u00a0authors, bloggers and publishers for removing reviews from its online book listings,\u00a0reports the\u00a0Bookseller. According to reports, some Amazon customers have had all their reviews removed or are blocked from posting further reviews on the website.\u00a0Amazon has blamed temporary \u2018technical issues\u2019. Author Isabella May told the\u00a0Bookseller\u00a0that she had had a \u2018hellish week\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international-news","8":"category-newsletter"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1279\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.booksandpublishing.com.au\/independentpublishing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}