I am regularly on launch teams where I get the books a few weeks before they’re published. Some authors give out their author copies for review. And, in some cases I’ve won ADVANCED REVIEW COPY books from LibraryThing.
Sometimes, especially with a certain group of bible study books – the first almost 2-3 weeks from the release, Amazon has been claiming:
“Amazon has noticed unusual reviewing activity on this product. Due to this activity, we have limited this product to verified purchase reviews.”
And, the one book this is pertaining to – ZERO reviews and it released 5 days ago. How is that “unusual”?? And, it has only happened to the bible study books I’ve been on the launch team for. This recent one and the one before that.
Another trend I noticed – they will take upwards to 3-5 days to post a review. One time it took 5 days for a book review.
Then again, I usually spend about $75+ a month on other items, along with books. And, I’ve been a customer since 2004. I’ve been a Prime subscriber since 2015.
One last trend I’ve noticed – they state the review can’t be posted because it violates their community policies.
Some “hints” they give don’t even pertain to the review:
- Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your experience with it. Feedback on the seller or your shipment experience should be provided at www.amazon.com/hz/feedback.
- We do not allow profane or obscene content. This applies to adult products too.
- Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same point excessively are considered spam.
- Please do not include URLs external to Amazon or personally identifiable content in your review.
- Any attempt to manipulate Community content or features, including contributing false, misleading, or inauthentic content, is strictly prohibited.
I get they don’t want people abusing the system when it comes to book reviews. They don’t want exaggerated stats or attacks. But, a lot of authors depend on the release day reviews to build up the sales for the week as well as the period for the book. This also helps their publisher continue to publish their work.
I think Amazon’s “algorithm” needs a re-tuning for sure. I get they want you to spend a set amount over time but in some cases – I think they abuse their own system.
As of note, I’ve not had many problems with Barnes & Noble reviews.