We Need to Stop Amazon from Arbitrarily Removing Customer Reviews from Indie Books
I’ll be the first to admit this…I knew about this issue and when it didn’t impact me, I didn’t do anything about it. For that, I apologize. Here is the background, and my attempt to rectify my earlier apathy.
Amazon has been removing customer reviews from indie authors for the past 6-9 months. Amazon, to my knowledge, has not provided a clear explanation to any impacted author as to why the review(s) were removed. It is not citing any guideline that has allegedly been broken. Rather, it is relying on its power and monopolistic position to do what it wishes. Just so we are all on the same page, here are the guidelines that Amazon has posted on its website regarding customer reviews (taken directly from Amazon’s website):
General Review Creation Guidelines
Amazon wants your opinions to be heard
We want customers to get the information they need to make smart buying choices, and we’d love to have your help doing that. As an Amazon customer, you can submit written or video reviews for items listed on Amazon.com. We encourage you to share your opinions, both favorable and unfavorable.
Who can create customer reviews?
Anyone who has purchased items from Amazon.com. All we ask is that you follow a few simple rules (see “What’s not allowed” below).
Tips on writing a great review
• Include the “why”: The best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a product, but also why. Feel free to talk about related products and how this item compares to them.
• Be specific: Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your experience with it. For video reviews, we recommend that you write a brief introduction.
• Not too short, not too long: Written reviews must be at least 20 words and are limited to 5,000 words. The ideal length is 75 to 500 words. Video reviews have a 10-minute limit, but we recommend 2 to 5 minutes to keep your audience engaged.
• Be sincere: We welcome your honest opinion about the product–positive or negative. We do not remove reviews because they are critical. We believe all helpful information can inform our customers’ buying decisions.
• Full disclosure: If you received a free product in exchange for your review, please clearly and conspicuously disclose that that you received the product free of charge. Reviews from the Amazon Vine™ program are already labeled, so additional disclosure is not necessary.
What’s not allowed
Amazon is pleased to provide this forum for you to share your opinions on products. While we appreciate your time and comments, we limit customer participation to one review per product and reserve the right to remove reviews that include any of the following:
Objectionable material:
• Obscene or distasteful content
• Profanity or spiteful remarks
• Promotion of illegal or immoral conduct
Promotional content:
• Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same point excessively
• Sentiments by or on behalf of a person or company with a financial interest in the product or a directly competing product (including reviews by publishers, manufacturers, or third-party merchants selling the product)
• Reviews written for any form of compensation other than a free copy of the product. This includes reviews that are a part of a paid publicity package
• Solicitations for helpful votes
Inappropriate content:
• Other people’s material (this includes excessive quoting)
• Phone numbers, postal mailing addresses, and URLs external to Amazon.com
• Videos with watermarks
• Comments on other reviews visible on the page (because page visibility is subject to change without notice)
• Foreign language content (unless there is a clear connection to the product)
Off-topic information:
• Feedback on the seller, your shipment experience or the packaging (you can do that atwww.amazon.com/feedback andwww.amazon.com/packaging)
• Details about availability or alternative ordering and shipping information
• Feedback about typos or inaccuracies in our catalog or product description (instead, use the feedback form at the bottom of the product page).
If you have safety concerns about the product you are reviewing please report this information to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) or contact Amazon.com directly. Please make sure to include all information about the product (product title, and ASIN or manufacturer’s SKU) and the details of the incident.
Customer reviews should be relevant to the product in question. If you have questions about the product or opinions that do not fit the review format, please feel free to use the Customer Discussions feature on the product page. Learn more about Customer Discussions.
______________
Problem #1: If reviews are being removed because they are not “Verified Purchases,” that has never been a published guideline or requirement for reviews. Let me explain how this would be an unfair basis upon which to remove a review. First, as noted, this has never been a published requirement. Second, many of us have spent countless hours under a 10 x 10 tent at fairs, books sales, etc. to sell hard copies of our books. We have then employed measures to try to get those purchasers to leave reviews. Obviously, those purchasers cannot be “Verified,” but their reviews should count nonetheless under the currently disclosed review requirements.
Problem #2: Amazon claims to be one of the best customer service companies in the world. And, as a customer of Amazon who has spent thousands of dollars on the website, I can say that their customer service is largely excellent. Why doesn’t that dedication to service extend to independently published authors?
Problem #3: If there are guidelines being violated (assuming, for the sake of argument, that some actually exist) then why are indie authors the only ones being impacted?
Problem #4: This is the BIGGEST problem in my opinion. Impacted authors are not being told why their reviews are being removed. I can safely say that most authors would be fine with reviews being removed if there was actually a violation of some posted guideline. I know I would be. However, to be left in the dark as to its reasons is unjust. And, Amazon’s actions have transcended from simply leaving authors in the dark to completely ignoring and/or sidestepping the issue altogether.
SOLUTION: It’s pretty easy, Amazon. Tell us what the rules are, and let us play by the rules. We will be happy to do so. Also, have the respect for indie authors to send them an email for every review that is removed which explains the rationale for doing so.
EVEN IF YOU AREN’T IMPACTED (YET), SUPPORT INDIE AUTHORS TODAY BY SIGNING THIS PETITION AT CHANGE.ORG TO MAKE AMAZON CHANGE ITS WAYS:
