Should You Trust Website Customer Reviews? 649
crevette asks: "I was looking on Amazon for some gizmo when I got a review from G. Cooke, TX, who is in the top 10 reviewers. Out of curiosity, I checked her reviews... She has 658 reviews, many on the same day, which include everything from knife sets to a plastic duck! She reviews many books on the same day... She must be spending hundreds of dollars on useless stuff every month. Worst of all, most of her reviews are 5 stars. Do you think those people are paid by Amazon or some company? Do you trust them? If not (like I tend to think) what can we do about it?"
Cheap reviewers (Score:5, Informative)
fp
icblf
Re:Cheap reviewers (Score:5, Funny)
"If you have a question, comment, suggestion, complaint, or personal request that we assist in the transfer of funds from a deposed dictator , please send an email to froogle-support@google.com."
(my emphasis)
Also new in the google labs... (Score:5, Informative)
Google Viewer [google.com] - View search results as scrolling web page images
Google Webquotes [google.com] - View search results with quotes about them from other sites
Check it out at Google Labs [google.com]
Really High quality moderating here! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Cheap reviewers (Score:4, Insightful)
Trust (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Trust (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Trust (Score:5, Funny)
Jaysyn
Re:Trust (Score:5, Informative)
A kid writes a review along the lines of "This game is awesome you must buy it now!" for a game that won't be released for another month gets posted.
Write an in-depth review of Super Monkey Ball 2, comparing it to the first one, and then saying it's not nearly as good, however, and get your review deleted. Apparently saying negative things about a potentially big title, and say them clearly and justify them, and get your review squashed because it might cost them money.
(And, yes, I have a number of reviews posted already, and I know the guidelines, so it wasn't violating them that kept the review from being posted)
Re:Trust (Score:5, Funny)
Take for instance an cd from david hasselhof, let's say this [amazon.com] and others.
You'll find:
Really, I bet the people at amazon are laughing their ass of when they see something like that.
PS:The song Hot Shot City is particularly good.
Re:No you can't... (Score:5, Interesting)
However, I was a 'Catalogue Specialist' (the people who post new listings) at Amazon for a few months and I can confirm you don't have a clue. You seem to think that Amazon has a whole staff of people making sure that product rankings are high, when in fact, they could give a shit what the ranking is. The only people I've ever heard of bitching about ranking and reviews were authors, complaining about their books negative listing.
In fact I have a memorable and funny story to illustate just how much Amazon could care less about the reviews and rankings.
So what was the point of that story...to a) illustrate how Amazon could really care less about ranking and b) that there is no review/rating conspiricy at Amazon.
I have a feeling the reviews in 'question' were like this, "This thing sucks, and it took an extra day to get here." Or some similar crap. In that case, yeah it gets rejected cuase it's a space waster.
Re:No you can't... (Score:3, Insightful)
And with all due respect, had there been a conspiracy taking place in Amazon, I have the feeling that you were not high enough to be in on it.
Re:Trust (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Trust (Score:3, Funny)
Trust but Verify (Score:4, Interesting)
If these suspicious persons have reviewed so many products, they may have a reviewed a few of which you have personal knowledge. Those are golden data points.
If there aren't any such datapoints, maybe somebody whose reviews you DO agree with has reviewed products the suspicious person has also reviewed. Those are, shall we say, silver data points.
Obviously what I'm working up to here is an automated system for finding short paths in networks of reviewers. Not a Web of Trust, but a Web of Agreement, built upon the mutual information (the degree of agreement) between various reviewers.
I have seen "mutual interest" systems such as for music. Those are useless because of shills that (pretend to) like everything, but a system built on mutual information would find those reviewers to have 0 information content.
Re:I worked in Amazon's Catalogue Dept (insight) (Score:5, Interesting)
In early '99, they were getting about 5000 reviews in a day. Each review is checked twice, once by a filter(dirty words), and the other by eyes(relavence). There were about 20 catalogue people then. They post all book listings, CD's, products, answer crazed author questions(my fav part)...and if they have time, post reviews.
If you guys think Amazon is trying to pursuade you with reviews...your high on conspiricy juice. They are pure fluff for your sake. We barley had enough time to add new products to the site, let alone check reviews. Trust me, Amazon would LOVE to get rid of the review system, cuase it is a pain in the ass to maintain and labor intensive. But they keep it cuase customers wanted/want it.
And no, we didn't re-order the reviews and put the good ones at the top. It is a pure FIFO (First-In-First-Online) system. People just usually post if they really hate, or really like something. So the reviews are more rants than critiques and tend to be very biased...just like /.
P.S. I still smell like the Art Bar too!
Re:Trust (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Trust (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Some do Some don't (Score:3, Funny)
This lady is not an Amazon employee or on their payroll, she is just looking for validation for her meaningless life by publishing reviews and GIVING them to web sites. GIVE is the important qualifier here.
Makes you think (Score:4, Insightful)
As for all the reviews being on the same day(s) mamby she had boring days where she types in reviews for things she already had?
Meta-moderation? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Meta-moderation? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Meta-moderation? (Score:2, Interesting)
Generally you can get a good idea by reading from various reviews, too, so it seems to me their system is still pretty good in spite of potential fake reviews.
Re:Meta-moderation? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Meta-moderation? (Score:2)
Also note that the top reviewers are apparently chosen by Amazon customers. Exactly how, I haven't figured out yet.
Re:Meta-moderation? (Score:4, Interesting)
I have seen other Top 50 reviews that were very poorly written--typos, spelling and grammatical errors, gushing with enthusiasm but lacking in critical insight. There does seem to be a pattern that while a review need not be well written, it must endorse the product to earn its writer a coveted Top 10 spot.
Here's how to find the answer: (Score:5, Funny)
Step 2: Sell it on Amazon.Com.
Step 3: See if Gail Cooke gives it 5 stars.
Bort.
Re:Here's how to find the answer: (Score:3, Funny)
Looks like a duck, walks like a duck (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Looks like a duck, walks like a duck (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Looks like a duck, walks like a duck (Score:3, Insightful)
A high proportion of the Amazon reviews are 5 stars. That's largely becuase they're posted by people who are enthusiasts for the item in question. I've even posted a few 5-star reviews myself, but I quickly get tired of gushing. Most of my reviews are in the 2-4 range. 4 means I think it's very good, with no uncorrectable flaws.
It's more fun to post a well-deserved 1-star and watch the adoring faithful get mad as hell.
Re:Looks like a duck, walks like a duck (Score:3, Interesting)
I make the occasional exception for very popular books which I think are overrated.
Danny.
Re:Looks like a duck, walks like a duck (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. In fact, when I go to Amazon and am confronted with dozens of reviews, I tend to re-sort the list from lowest rated to highest. I want to know why people don't like something. Take the case of deep fryers I was recently looking at for a Christmas gift. The highly rated reviews gushed about this and that but the negative reviews were about things like hot oil spilling onto the counter and other fire hazards. That is helpful stuff. Of course you get negative reviews that aren't helpful, just like positive reviews, but I find well-written negative reviews to be very valuable.
Re:Looks like a duck, walks like a duck (Score:3, Interesting)
Another difference is that most of the books I review are obscure. Most of Amazon's books are obscure too, but their reviews definitely cover popular titles better - how many thousand reviews of the Harry Potter books are there?
Danny.
I trust everything I read on the internet (Score:5, Funny)
snopes (Score:3, Informative)
Extremes (Score:5, Insightful)
This is probably due to the fact that only people that have had extremely positive or extremely negative experiences with a particular product will actually take the time to post. Well, other than a few people with too much time on their hands that want to be listed as top reviewers.
Stalkers (Score:5, Interesting)
The point I'm making is that the reviewers aren't always participating in a community, but also acting out a personal agenda as well, which other customers may take in as fact.
What can we do about it? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What can we do about it? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:What can we do about it? (Score:4, Informative)
For instance, technical books tend to have good reviews on Amazon. This is probably because it's more difficult for a marketer to fake that stuff. I've also used reviews on others sites before buying a lawn mower, snow thrower, and a computer parts supplier. I had to dig through more noise, but the results have all been positive.
Probably the worst reviews that I've found have been for video games. It's nothing but blind fans, posting mindless garbage about how much this game rules.
What I usually do is look for trends in the negative reviews. If there is a common theme emerging, then I might stay away from that product or company. The same can be said for the reviews that people get on Ebay. If someone has a few negatives, and they all say that he didn't ship on time, there might be a problem there.
A reviewer who takes the time to use proper grammar and explains his thoughts logically will obviously carry more weight.
Again, it's just common sense, with a little luck thrown in.
brilliant (Score:2, Funny)
Public reviews (Score:2, Informative)
Some info on Gail Cooke (Score:5, Informative)
Name: G. Cooke
Nickname: pagebypage
E-mail: grospoin@aol.com
Reviewer Rank: 8
About me: So many good books, so many wonderful things....so few hours. For me, reading and trying is sheer pleasure, a boon companion, and sometimes work as reviewing is my profession. I hold membership in the National Book Critics Circle, and write for newspapers across the U.S. Thanks to all who have expressed an interest in my reviews, and thanks to Amazon for providing a forum in which we can exchange ideas.
Re:MOD PARENT WAY UP (Score:3, Funny)
She gets around (Score:5, Interesting)
Man, what a horrible way to waste time. Well, back to reloading Slashdot....
Positive Public Relations (Score:3, Informative)
This says to me: Someone is being paid to write good reviews for any product out there. A mini-Marketing agent if you will.
It's somewhat reminiscent of the Microsoft PR agent who "switched from Mac to Windows", or it's like the "grassroots pro-Microsoft" campaign that Bill sponsored in the opening days of the Anti-Trust court proceedings.
Trying to appear unsolicited and innocent, but in reality, it's just someone's job.
Money is the root of *most* work.
What a weird question (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What a weird question (Score:5, Funny)
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Bil Keane Family Circus reviews (Score:3)
The reviews, that I recall, spoke of how the comics confronted the uber secret freemason's and so forth. I believe there were quite a few Kafka and Nietsche references as well. Hilarious.
Now I have a new google project for the day. Somebody somewhere must have saved 'em!
Re:Bil Keane Family Circus reviews (Score:4, Funny)
Mutant Dog [earthlink.net]
Click on the Bil Keane icon for the archive.
Amazon, Cnet and Uptight people (Score:2)
I really found the trouble Amazon got in for "faking" the system mentioned above linking your laster book purchase to a pair of pants to advertise thier new clothing line. ex. readers who like Stephen King, also enjoy these fleece lined Jeans. there was a huge uproar of false advertising claims over this joke.
Cnet is definatly a mixed bag. When download gets a 1 star review because some newb user with a hosed system can't install the app properly what use is his review? I love CNet but the reviewing isn't always helpful
Customer reviews tend to be extreme (Score:5, Insightful)
1. 5 star reviews from crazy fan-types who absolutely love some movie/musician/cartoon, etc.
2. Anti-fans who post 1 star reviews about stuff they can't stand being popular.
3. Fans who've turned into anti-fans, claiming that item X "isn't as good as their previous efforts" and that the creator "has sold out."
Re:Customer reviews tend to be extreme (Score:4, Insightful)
Book reviews are much more thoughtful and balanced. Off-beat music and movies have less emotional reviews. Reviews of technical items like DVD players tend to be very helpful regarding the features and pitfalls of that particular product.
I tend to pay a lot more attention to the reviews which list both positives and negatives, rather than the raving 5 or 1 star reviews.
Re:Customer reviews tend to be extreme (Score:5, Funny)
Linux: Customer Review: * * * * *
Linux is the most advanced operating system on Earth!!! And I just loved figuring out how to compile the source code for my keyboard driver!!!
Macintosh: Customer Review: * - 1/2
Who the hell makes a computer with just one mouse button? And only 60 frames per second in Quake III? I require at least 850.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Customer Review: * * - 1/2
I liked George Lucas' old stuff. You know, before he sold out to Hollywood.*
*Dow Jones/Australia disclaimer: No claim is made that George Lucas is any better or worse than other overrated sci-fi directors.
Re:Customer reviews tend to be extreme (Score:3, Interesting)
I find Netflix's rating engine to be a perfect method of tracking what movies I've already seen so I don't go and accidentally rent the same one twice. This has led me to have an awful lot of ratings (~2000 DVDs), but I can be fairly confident that everything in my rental queue is new.
Of course, rating things (1-5 stars) is very different from reviewing something. Reviewing something requires you to think rather hard about what you liked or didn't like about a product and is usually done because you have a strong emotion about it and feel the need to tell the world about it. Rating something is so much easier that it can be done without much thought at all, making it much more common.
Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
This wouldn't surprise me (Score:3, Insightful)
I also admit I take the product reviews very seriously when I am going to buy something, especially if it's not cheap. I do this even if I don't plan on buying it from Amazon.
I doubt I am the only person like this. It would seem only logical that companies would do anything they can to get favorable reviews about their products on Amazon.
I guess you just have to read as many of the reviews as possible and make a judgement call. I do tend to look for negative reviews as they're definitely not paid for! However, those also must be taken with a grain of salt.
Review ***** (Score:5, Funny)
-G. Cooke, TX
Review * 1/2
I rate Slashdot at a star and a half. Definitely take anything you hear there with a grain of salt.
-G. Cooke, TX
who's responsible (Score:3, Informative)
1) Determine if there is some 'shady' reviewing going on (although this looks like a pretty solid set of circumstancial evidence).
2) Find out who's responsible for it.
If it is amazon, itself, that is doing this sort of thing, then the only actions that can be taken are public outcry, and possibly an e-mail campaign. After all, they may be using it to drum up business, and as we have all learned from spammers: if it works, they'll keep on doing it.
On the other hand, if it is some third party submitting reviews, it might be possible to get Amazon to remove all reviews by said person...
Just a thought
Is /. guilty of this as well? (Score:2, Funny)
"Hey, 'Neal check out this MS bashing comment I wrote under the name Balbazare prince of darkness. hahaha" - Taco
"I'll mod that as +5 funny!" -CowboyNeal
What can we do about it? (Score:2)
There are many other sites out there that have reviewers that are paid to be unbiased. Most aren't of course, but we can feel comfortable in that illusory world as we check up on products on the sites the specialize in them
Seeing as Bezos probably isn't monitoring this thread looking for suggestions, the question of what can be done about it is pretty moot. If you want to eliminate the frauds, get a job at Amazon, claw your way up through the ranks and change policy.
Good luck!
Other reviewers (Score:2, Interesting)
Known, but why isn't anything being done about it? (Score:5, Insightful)
I was once looking through some of my old favorite Sci-Fi books on Amazon, and noticed a few "top 100" reviewer reviews. I noticed that they all had one thing in common. Two paragraphs. The first paragraph was so generic and "ooh ahh neato" that it could have been about anything. The last paragraph looked like it was paraphrased right from the back/inside cover.
So I went to one of the top 10 reviewers. She claimed to be a librarian who speed reads one book a day, and rewviewed each one. ALL her SciFi book reviews looked just like one another, and all of them had 5 stars out of 5, even some of the worst SciFi I've ever read in my life.
They don't just need meta-moderation. They need personalized meta-moderation. I want to select the group of people whose reviews I trust, and the people whose reviews of reviewers I trust. Maybe the "tragedy of the commons" is ok for Slashdot, but I'd sure hate to have that affecting the reviews that I see for actual products. I want other people like me to review the products that I buy.
This problem ranks right up there along with eBay auctions and the fact that they "close" at a given point in time. In the real world, an auction continues as long as people are making bids. eBay should extend an auction by 5 minutes or an hour or a day each time someone bids on an item. That'd get rid of "last minute bid services". (I'd suggest a 5 minute extension - because then there's a natural time for everyone interested in an item to "gather" together and do the final bidding.)
.
Re:Known, but why isn't anything being done about (Score:5, Funny)
Shit, I should patent that.
.
Proof in the pudding. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Proof in the pudding. (Score:5, Funny)
Well, they tell you they aren't English teachers.
Safety in numbers (Score:5, Interesting)
I would certainly rather have the reviews than not. I've bought many cool things from Amazon that I never would have considered or even found (music mostly) if not for the reviews and comments.
Mig
Agreed (Score:3, Insightful)
If you want to see some funny fake Amazon reviews: (Score:4, Funny)
Check out Henry Raddick's stuff -- I think the guy's got a dry British sense of humor and he can be really funny:
Henry Raddick's reviews [amazon.com]Quick sample:
This is why Epinions is cool (Score:5, Informative)
If you see someone whose reviews reflect your own opinions, you can add them to your list of trusted people. Then when you see a list of reviews, your trusted people's reviews are at the top. Furthermore, your trusted people also have people they trust and you are likely to turst those people too, just maybe not quite as much. So your trusted people's trusted people's reviews bubble up near to the top, and so on.
Also, if you see some reviewer who you think is way off base, you can block them and never see their reviews again. It's a clever scheme, and if you use the site enough, you can tailor it to serve you decent reviews quickly. And it's all based on your opinion of other people's opinions, unlike Amazon which just bubbles up reviews from people who write a lot of reviews. I think quantity of reviews is hardly a good metric to use.
Re:This is why Epinions is cool (Score:5, Informative)
Re:There is something fishy about Epinions, though (Score:3, Interesting)
I haven't checked out Epinions extensively in a while, but I worked there very briefly a few years ago and their ultimate goal was to let the community build the product hierarchy, which is good for them (they don't have to pay experts full-time to build/prune the product trees) and good for the consumer (you could review just about anything, as long as the community was fast and responsive). That is, as long as certain people were in charge of keeping the product hierarchy clean and correct (think dmoz.org). I don't know if they have implemented this yet, though.
They definitely don't hide bad reviews of things (see the cell phone service provider section, for instance). They pride themselves on having a great deal of unbiased reviews. They just believe that if people are given access to good reviews on a product, it will help steer them towards the right product for them, which the person will eventually buy. Sure, sometimes a bunch of bad reviews will lead people to not buy something they might normally, but that isn't usually how things play out.
beware of the shill (Score:3, Insightful)
I still like google to find more professional reviews of computer hardware and consumer electronics like PDAs. I was looking up information on the palm m130 vs. the m515 today, for example, and found google invaluable. After reading about four reviews on different sites, I feel that I have a good understanding of both products. The highest ranked reviews were actually very professional and well written too, something that is harder and harder to find now..
Automatic online recommendation systems (Score:3, Interesting)
In a incident that highlights the pitfalls of online recommendation systems, Amazon.com on Friday removed a link to a sex manual that appeared next to a listing for a spiritual guide by well-known Christian televangelist Pat Robertson.
The two titles were temporarily linked as a result of technology that tracks and displays lists of merchandise perused and purchased by Amazon visitors. Such promotions appear below the main description for products under the title, "Customers who shopped for this item also shopped for these items."
Basically, the gist of it is that people shopping for the televangellist's spiritual guide, and Amazon's recommendation system suggested that people who bought this also bought another book called The Men's Guide to Anal Sex.
I'm speculating, but I would guess that such a system could be hacked by ordering both books, and then shortly later cancelling your order. The order cancellation probably does not remove the association of these two items in the recommendation database tables.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Henry Raddick Reviews (Score:4, Funny)
Henry Raddick's Reviews [amazon.com]
Here's an example, for the book "Surviving Divorce: A Handbook for Men" by Gay Search:
A well-written and challenging book which I bought for my Uncle Sandy as he attempts to cope with the aftershock of divorce. Unfortunately he thought the author's name was a coping strategy being suggested and he refused to read it.
Re:Henry Raddick Reviews (Score:4, Funny)
He's also the same person who wrote the Andrew Lloyd Weber reviews [theregister.co.uk] that were taken down by Amazon. Funny stuff.
Re:Henry Raddick Reviews (Score:3, Funny)
For God, Why Did Dad Lose His Job? by Katherine Marko, Kathy Counts (Illustrator)
A truly wonderful guide which has enabled me to explain my recent sacking for vandalising company property to my children in terms of a minor act of redemption. First rate.
Hey, at least this guy is imaginative.
Re:Henry Raddick Reviews (Score:3, Funny)
***** Tremendous February 24, 2002
An excellent guide which is helping me get to know my pug Grendel, which is not an easy job. My children have taken to attaching surprisingly realistic stick-on ears to his rump and he turned around and bit me recently when I tried to put a piece of cheese rind into what I thought was his mouth.
About the #1 Reviewer on Amazon. (Score:3, Informative)
As most of you know, China Mieville is NOT A SHE. Anyone who actually had the book couldn't miss this fact, since there is a big picture of him on the back flap.
They do have some moderation, though. When I first saw the review it was one of the featured reviews on the main book page, but now that 12 people have said it was "unhelpful" it has fallen to the third page.
Anyway, that should tell you something about how good the top reviewers are
Not Amazon, no (Score:5, Funny)
When the "listmania" stuff first came I made a couple of lists one evening when I was bored, one of them was "10 worst films ever", featuring Armageddon, Waterworld, Independence Day and so on. It was quickly removed.
Still, the filters and the reviewers sometime let through stuff, and people can still take the piss out of some products if they [amazon.com]
are creative...
"What really makes David Hasselhoff stand apart from his contemporaries is his magnificent voice. Some critics have compared his resounding tenor to that of Mario Lanza or Johnny Hartman, but I would compare it more to a wounded jackal getting whipped by a screaming pornfilm fluffer.
So enjoy this comprehensive collection of Hasselhoff's greatest. You won't regret a moment of it!"
Check it out, there are 449 reviews in that style...
Re:Not Amazon, no (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Not Amazon, no (Score:3, Funny)
WTF is going on!
Personal experience (Score:5, Informative)
Possible reason for same day reviews (Score:3, Insightful)
--Jon
Gail Cooke's reviews. (Score:5, Informative)
She gives five stars to _another_ men's electric razor on November 26.
She gives five stars to an iron on October 1.
She gives five stars to _another_ iron on November 23.
She gives five stars to a cordless vaccuum on August 11.
She gives five stars to _another_ cordless vaccuum on September 7.
She gives five stars to a regular vaccuum on August 6.
She gives five stars to _another_ regular vaccuum on October 13.
Come to your own conclusions. My feeling is that she is either:
A: a professional product reviewer, in which case Amazon should include a disclaimer that she is being paid for her reviews,
B: a compulsive liar / attention-seeker,
C: a collection of reviewers all publishing under one pseudonym, in which case Amazon should include a disclaimer that she is not a real person.
D: the marketing department for Amazon / Target, in which case Amazon should include a disclaimer that she is being paid and is not a real person.
Most People Have Binary Minds. (Score:4, Insightful)
Lets use Slashdot as an example.
What ever Microsoft Does 1 star.
What ever Linux Does 5 Stars.
(They both did the same thing)
Marketing 1 Star.
Getting a Job 5 Stars.
Apple 2.5 Stars.
Half of the people are 5 Stars
The other Half of the people are 1 star.
And even look at moderation How many moderations do you see as 5 and -1 (1 and 2 happen without moderation) but there is usually only a little bit or 3s and 4s.
Amazon Employees write reviews (Score:5, Interesting)
Mike Daisey discusses how he was a customer service call center lacky but also reviewed childrens toys for the site. He did this from home on his own time, The funny thing was he would fall far behind his reviews and have closets full of unreviewed Fisher Price and Playskool toys laying about the house.
Good thing a fat guy with no children who's never been a parent was reviewing childrens toys.
Amazon's #1 Reviewer (Score:3, Interesting)
Here's the Best Reviewer on Amazon! (Score:3, Interesting)
Henry Raddicks reviews need to be read in full to get some of the jokes he mentions. He has a whole cast of characters (homophobic uncle, poor dog he's always trying some crazy theory on) that he references in many of his reviews..
Examples...
Handbook of Meat Product Technology
An admirably thorough guide to the tools of the production-line meat processing trade. The superb colour photographs particularly made it a perfect gift for my 15 year old daughter who is showing alarming signs of not becoming vegetarian.
God, Why Did Dad Lose His Job?
A truly wonderful guide which has enabled me to explain my recent sacking for vandalising company property to my children in terms of a minor act of redemption. First rate.
The Truth Is Out There! (Score:5, Funny)
Thank you. Is there like a prize or something for like the best post ever? I now kneel as you bestow thy Karma upon thee.
Most all reviews are worthless. (Score:3, Insightful)
When Joe Blow say this product is great or that product is crap, it really means NOTHING, and putting any faith into these reviews is a major mistake. Unless the reviewer gives some background about themselves and their history with the product or category of products you have no way of knowing how they relate to you.
This is especially true of technical book reviews. Without having some idea about the persons knowlege and skill level and what experience they have, there is no real value in the review. For this reason, when I write book reviews I also include a brief resume listing things like years of experience in that field, certifications, other books that I have read on the subject, etc.
Slashdot poster not legit? (Score:4, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
the nice thing about Amazon... (Score:3, Insightful)
another kind of "bombing" (Score:3, Insightful)
But the same thing happened when the snake oil salesman rode his wagon into town in the 1800's. There would be a plant, a shill, in the crowd who on cue would get all hysterical about the presentation and appear buy 6 bottles. Cha-ching...the oil flowed.
But then again, some celebrity going on about how great some gadget or pill is isn't so different; just playing on your goofy, unquestioning trust.
Trust is the ultimate sales API, and goes straight to the brain stem. Your instincts are used against you and...cha-ching...everywhere the sound of money.
Actually, they are probably getting paid to post (Score:5, Insightful)
Myself, I look for the reviews that are by people who clearly have actually read the book/used the product. There is sort of an art to picking them out.
Re:Actually, they are probably getting paid to pos (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, reviewers are paid to give rave reviews, just like search engines are paid to increase web page rankings.
Once, after I gave a rave review [amazon.com], I got an email several months later from John Wiley & Sons, offering me $50 to review a similar book of theirs. (This was back when Amazon.com put email addresses next to reviewers' names.)
I don't remember if the paid review was to be submitted to a bookseller's site, or to more conventional book review media.
Re:CU Reviews (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously tho, this sort of thing bothers me from multiple angles. Is this person on the Amazon payroll (not that it effects me, I started boycotting amazon back when they sued B&N and I havn't gone back to them since)? Or is this just some person with nothing better to do who feels like writting a bunch of drivel?
I noticed, and I see from comments that I was not the only person to notice, that all the reviews read like ads. They don't read at all like an off the cuff review by someone who used a prodiuct and genuinely wanted to recomend it.
The book reviews are way too in depth. Nobody talking about a book that they read actually tries to catch you with a little narrative hook to make you want more. They usually just describe the general plot a bit or major conflict and maybe some of the issues it touches. Her reviews read like what I would expect on the back cover of a book to draw a person in and make them want to buy it.
In any case, one more reason not to use Amazon, not that I needed one.
-Steve
Re:And just to think, that person is #8... (Score:3, Interesting)
We'd be the number 1 reviewer in no time. The current #1 reviewer has 4052 reviews.