I mentioned Amazon Vine a couple weeks ago. Well, their first newsletter is out. I am curious: can any Amazon customer view it, or only people registered with Vine? (Thanks to Joe and TTL for clearing up it's the latter.)
I was wondering how it works: if the publisher registered with a product sends it to every reviewer who wants it... if there are thousands of reviewers, that could be costly, and result in an avalance of reviews. Well, it turns out that just minutes after I got the newsletter in the email, already two of the items were all gone (a music album, and a book by Michael Chabon), and there was just three left of one I wanted (a book called "Influencer"), so I had to act fast.
It wouldn't let me look at it. It said it was invitation only. Although it's something I would take advantage of if I could, I'm not sure it's a practice of which I approve - it's Amazon padding reviews as usual. While I'm sure you would not do this, some people who belong to that program don't seem to actually read the stuff they get, and just write a glowing, 5-star review based on info from the dust jacket. This seems especially true when it comes to technical books, which reviewers probably only take because it can move them up the ladder (though that number one spot is locked in; no one will ever dethrown that Harriet Klausner, not even Bernabo).
ReplyDelete"some people who belong to that program don't seem to actually read the stuff they get, and just write a glowing, 5-star review based on info from the dust jacket."
ReplyDeleteI am curious as to how you know this.
Especially since the Vine program is brand new, no reviews up yet.
I don't know it, but a lot of people have accused other reviewers of not reading the book, just throwing up a five-star review to get more helpful votes. The Vine program may be new, but the giving of free books to top reviewers apparently is not.
ReplyDeleteNo one can prove anything, but if you read some reviews of technical books, you're left thinking that they haven't said much about the contents beyond what you'd probably find on the dust jacket. Again, there is no way to prove it. I should see if I can locate some of these reviews again, because it seemed pretty obvious that they were almost total B.S.
So, yeah, it really has nothing to do with Vine, it's not a new idea. Try to be less of an ass next time about it.
Eolake inquired: "I am curious: can any Amazon customer view it, or only people registered with Vine?"
ReplyDeleteWe're sorry.
Looking for information on Amazon Vine? Vine is currently an invitation only program. You can increase your chances of being selected for Vine by providing helpful and honest customer reviews on Amazon.com. Learn more about writing Amazon reviews here.
What they don't say is that they want 5-star positive reviews. Any others - usually - do not make the top of the list. And the people who write too many of them don't get selected for the program. Of course, were I to write reviews (I have no intention of doing so) I would probably not review things I didn't like anyway, simply because it would invite scads of unhelpful votes and nasty comments.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they are hand-picking them. Perhaps even for seeming honesty. For sure *I* have quite a few negative reviews.
ReplyDeleteFor sure *I* have quite a few negative reviews.
ReplyDeleteThat's relative. I have read through the reviews of some people on Amazon who have nothing but one- or two-star reviews, which are savage attacks as though the author or director or musician did something terrible to them personally. By comparison you've written very few negatives. The kind I'm talking about do seem to get removed by Amazon anyway, eventually.
Even though your negative reviews certainly do not fall into this category, probably a lot of the unhelpful votes are from people who see the star rating given and vote without reading.
I have voted on Amazon reviews many times, giving both "helpful" and "unhelpful" votes. It would never have occurred to me to vote without reading the review first.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, it is only after reading what the reviewer has written that I get the urge to vote at all. Either because the review was particularly helpful, or particularly unhelpful.
Stumbled across your blog looking for "next Amazon Vine newsletter." I'm a member of it, as well, and I know for a fact that I'm not providing solely five star reviews.
ReplyDeleteIf that were the case, then Harriet Klausner would have been first choice and it doesn't appear that she is a "Vine Voice." So, I disagree with Joe Dick.
Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed and very pleased at how good placement I get on Google with me likkle blog.
Thanks for the information... I'm on Amazon Vine now, and I was searching for "amazon vine unhelpful" on Google, so I have a good mix of negative, mediocre, and positive reviews. With that blend, I used to have a 95% helpful rating, but since I have gotten into Vine, I have been shocked to see how many "unhelpful" votes I've been getting when I review something as being "middle of the road" in terms of quality (from books to other things). It's depressing and I wonder if there's not some Vine retaliation, or just a general hatred of negative reviews. I do still think "joe dick" is right when he says some people "don't seem to actually read the stuff they get," but it may be perceptions like his that make it so easy to push the "unhelpful" button on a Vine review. Anyway, read your blog with interest, thanks for putting this out there! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jessica, good to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I tried to get Vine items, the good ones were gone within minutes. And the one or two I ordered never arrived. So I gave up.
For Vine members, there is a "private" forum where a lot of this same sort of thing is discussed in GREAT length. Bottom line, the selection process for Vine membership appears to still be a complete mystery, as some members are "top reviewers" while others (like me) have just a few (<50) reviews under their belt. Must have been the stunning clarity and accuracy of my reviews that got me there. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just participated in my second "newsletter" (the thing that lets you pick stuff to review). There was 5 pages of books and one page of Microsoft LifeCams, hair gel, pantiliners, and bamboo grocery sacks. By the time I clicked a selection, the only thing left was the hair gel and pantiliners. I'm not incontinent, so I ended up with some hair gel. I have too many books to read already...
Oh, I too landed here from a Google search of "Amazon Vine Newsletter". Top placement. :-)
One might think that if a company has items for review on Amazon, they would be sure to have more than ten or twenty to send reviewers. It's great promotion.
ReplyDeleteThe imbalance between the number of reviewers and the number of items makes the whole thing seem silly.
"I have too many books to read already"
ReplyDeleteMe too!
And yet I too, at first, was eager to get *free books*. I wonder if that's not the source of the poisoning of the Vine program, that very few people are immune to the lure of "free stuff", and order books/stuff they are really not all that interested in.