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Amazon Deletes Reviews of Conservative Authors with No Explanation

It was decided long ago that views which do not conform to UTOPIA must be smothered as much as possible, driven from polite conversation, smeared as dirty by what ever means are available. Just as the left now controls the wreckage of the University they now aim to control all of the major messaging centers such as Hollywood and the media where the so-called journalist work.

The ends justify the means.

ONWARD TO UTOPIA!
 
PoS said:
I'm sure Amazon would never dare to remove your reviews, polgara. You're a respected customer there. :mrgreen:

I am of two minds in regards to verified and unverified reviews. While verified reviews are definitely more legit, ARC reviews are an important part of writer's marketing and it would be a blow if Amazon does away with it. I would prefer there be two separate tiers of reviews- one for verified and one for unverified.
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I can only say for me as a reader that I do not place anywhere near the same credibility on a non-purchase verified review, but I will admit that I have written several myself.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
It was decided long ago that views which do not conform to UTOPIA must be smothered as much as possible, driven from polite conversation, smeared as dirty by what ever means are available. Just as the left now controls the wreckage of the University they now aim to control all of the major messaging centers such as Hollywood and the media where the so-called journalist work.

The ends justify the means.

ONWARD TO UTOPIA!
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Sometimes I think you're actually an acquaintance of mine in Iowa. You and he express yourselves almost identically.
 
radcen said:
Sometimes I think you're actually an acquaintance of mine in Iowa. You and he express yourselves almost identically.
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Hopefully you have been paying attention.
 
Spartacus FPV said:
No, this is a trend. First Youtube, then Google accounts, then Twitter, now Amazon? The anti-conservative purge from Silicon Valley is in full effect.
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Anti-bot. Not anti-conservative.
 
radcen said:
Train wrecks are hard to ignore. ;)
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With as bad as our leaders are at their jobs, and with as much as they lie, and with as clear as this is so there is no excuse for you being ignorant about what is going on one hopes you are listening to those who tell stories unlike the ones that power tells you.
 
chuckiechan said:
This is just one of many "reckonings" that have to happen in this country. Since when does Big Data and FAANG get the right to choke off the conservative air supply by denying them representation in the digital world? Microsoft successfully did that with browsers and other up and coming competitors, and the regulators barked and nipped, but who won? Microsoft.

I sure we won't be reading this article in the WaPo since Amazon's owner owns it. The same Amazon owner that now is complicit in burying conservative opinions that are rarely in line with his view of the world.
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Or... they were clearing paid reviews, friend and family reviews and trolls.
 
What if...? said:
Or... they were clearing paid reviews, friend and family reviews and trolls.
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Amazon has regularly cleared negative reviews claiming they were eliminating paid, bot and trolls. Years ago I bought an inexpensive watch from one of the Amazon Marketplace as a gift for one of the grandkids who was learning how to tell time. It arrived with a dead battery from sitting on a shelf too long. I mentioned that in the review, and the seller offered me a $10 credit if I withdrew the review. As if I would by another watch from the same seller. I declined. The review disappeared the next day. I complained to Amazon's customer service which responded I should have accepted the $10 credit, the seller responded appropriately. I reduced my Amazon shopping to a trickle. Plenty of other markets to buy from, often with lower prices when I watch for the sales. They're still handy for kids books come birthdays. But I no longer trust them for much else. My money, my choice. Voting with my pocket.

Meanwhile, their stock pricing is absurd to say the least, valued on what they might be earning sometime in the long distant future. Sooner or later, their stock prices will crash. An unpredictable investor burn in the making. Could happen tomorrow or 5 years, but it will happen.
 
OldFatGuy said:
Amazon has regularly cleared negative reviews claiming they were eliminating paid, bot and trolls. Years ago I bought an inexpensive watch from one of the Amazon Marketplace as a gift for one of the grandkids who was learning how to tell time. It arrived with a dead battery from sitting on a shelf too long. I mentioned that in the review, and the seller offered me a $10 credit if I withdrew the review. As if I would by another watch from the same seller. I declined. The review disappeared the next day. I complained to Amazon's customer service which responded I should have accepted the $10 credit, the seller responded appropriately. I reduced my Amazon shopping to a trickle. Plenty of other markets to buy from, often with lower prices when I watch for the sales. They're still handy for kids books come birthdays. But I no longer trust them for much else. My money, my choice. Voting with my pocket.

Meanwhile, their stock pricing is absurd to say the least, valued on what they might be earning sometime in the long distant future. Sooner or later, their stock prices will crash. An unpredictable investor burn in the making. Could happen tomorrow or 5 years, but it will happen.
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You know lots of people point to Amazon as an example that proves that America can still work. I say that it is an example that shows how corrupt America is now, and that its stock price represents a bet that the corruption will not be dealt with anytime soon.

I get the idea that I am much more sour on America than you are, but surely you would have to admit that the existence of Amazon as it is is a sound argument in my case.
 
Cardinal said:
Inauthentic reviews are made on Amazon all the time and there are purges regularly. Electronics and political works in particular are lightning rods for inauthentic reviews.
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When I buy something I check out reviews and you'll see the exact same review with various names on some products.

Which is a deal breaker for me, because they're obviously paying for reviews.
 
What if...? said:
When I buy something I check out reviews and you'll see the exact same review with various names on some products.

Which is a deal breaker for me, because they're obviously paying for reviews.
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Which is why God made the Fakespot app for Chrome.
 
OldFatGuy said:
Amazon has regularly cleared negative reviews claiming they were eliminating paid, bot and trolls. Years ago I bought an inexpensive watch from one of the Amazon Marketplace as a gift for one of the grandkids who was learning how to tell time. It arrived with a dead battery from sitting on a shelf too long. I mentioned that in the review, and the seller offered me a $10 credit if I withdrew the review. As if I would by another watch from the same seller. I declined. The review disappeared the next day. I complained to Amazon's customer service which responded I should have accepted the $10 credit, the seller responded appropriately.
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It's critically important to note that Amazon maintains two separate review platforms, and customers frequently conflate the two: seller feedback, and product reviews.

Product reviews appear on the product detail page, and seller feedback appears on a separate page where customers may leave feedback and ratings for customer service, delivery, packaging, and other non-product-related seller performance. A review published to the product page may be removed if the content is directed towards the seller of the item, and comments published to the seller's feedback page may be similarly removed if the customer is reviewing the product.

Product Review Example:
Screenshot 2018-03-18 at 9.30.08 PM.jpg

Seller Feedback Example:
Screenshot 2018-03-18 at 9.28.33 PM.jpg

For example, if Acme Seed Co. sold me some seeds that didn't sprout, and I published a negative rating of the seeds in the seller feedback section, the seller could petition Amazon to remove the review, because it is not related to the seller's performance, even in cases where the seller is also the manufacturer of the item. Similarly, if Acme Seed Co. delivered an order late, and the customer wrote a review critical of the company that was published to the product page, it would also be subject to removal.

As an Amazon seller, I have had seller feedback removed which was not related to my performance as a seller, either because it was a product review, or because the product was fulfilled by Amazon, who was responsible for the fulfillment issue. I have never requested for a product review to be removed, and am relatively certain that mentioning a dead battery in a review for a watch falls well within the review guidelines, so long as it is published to the product page, and not the seller feedback page.

Sellers do not have the ability to request for removal of product feedback published to the product page that falls within Amazon's review guidelines, and are strictly prohibited from offering customers discounts to remove product reviews or encourage positive product reviews. If the seller was able to get the feedback removed, I am fairly confident that you inadvertently commented on the dead watch battery in the seller feedback section, and they were able to get Amazon to remove the feedback because it was a product-related review, and not a comment on seller performance.
 
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Cardinal said:
Which is why God made the Fakespot app for Chrome.
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I did not know of such a thing. I will check it out. Thanks.

I've seen fake negative reviews too with different names.

Which leans me towards those products.

(I keep hoping the whole trolls and bots thing will cause an awakening to how much this crap is polluting our society. But so far, alas)
 
Hawkeye10 said:
You know lots of people point to Amazon as an example that proves that America can still work. I say that it is an example that shows how corrupt America is now, and that its stock price represents a bet that the corruption will not be dealt with anytime soon.

I get the idea that I am much more sour on America than you are, but surely you would have to admit that the existence of Amazon as it is is a sound argument in my case.
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I have a great deal of faith in this nation, and the coming generations. I don't know if Amazon's equity prices represent corruption, or the state of investment trends without economic justification, in other words follow the leader.
 
OldFatGuy said:
I have a great deal of faith in this nation, and the coming generations. I don't know if Amazon's equity prices represent corruption, or the state of investment trends without economic justification, in other words follow the leader.
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Can you point to where this faith originates?

I would love it to have faith again.

I dont like being a sour puss.

tyvm

:2wave:
 
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What if...? said:
When I buy something I check out reviews and you'll see the exact same review with various names on some products.

Which is a deal breaker for me, because they're obviously paying for reviews.
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The culprit may not be Amazon but the vendors who sell through Amazon. If I recall correctly, Sanyo was sued by a consumer group for posting many of their own reviews of their own products, misleading the consumers who bought their products. The group received a settlement. Sanyo got off light because it wasn't a class action. Only about 30-40 angry consumers who bought TVs that didn't last 3 months at best.
 
drtrmiller said:
It's critically important to note that Amazon maintains two separate review platforms, and customers frequently conflate the two: seller feedback, and product reviews.

Product reviews appear on the product detail page, and seller feedback appears on a separate page where customers may leave feedback and ratings for customer service, delivery, packaging, and other non-product-related seller performance. A review published to the product page may be removed if the content is directed towards the seller of the item, and comments published to the seller's feedback page may be similarly removed if the customer is reviewing the product.

Product Review Example:
View attachment 67230249

Seller Feedback Example:
View attachment 67230248

For example, if Acme Seed Co. sold me some seeds that didn't sprout, and I published a negative rating of the seeds in the seller feedback section, the seller could petition Amazon to remove the review, because it is not related to the seller's performance, even in cases where the seller is also the manufacturer of the item. Similarly, if Acme Seed Co. delivered an order late, and the customer wrote a review critical of the company that was published to the product page, it would also be subject to removal.

As an Amazon seller, I have had seller feedback removed which was not related to my performance as a seller, either because it was a product review, or because the product was fulfilled by Amazon, who was responsible for the fulfillment issue. I have never requested for a product review to be removed, and am relatively certain that mentioning a dead battery in a review for a watch falls well within the review guidelines, so long as it is published to the product page, and not the seller feedback page.

Sellers do not have the ability to request for removal of product feedback published to the product page that falls within Amazon's review guidelines, and are strictly prohibited from offering customers discounts to remove product reviews or encourage positive product reviews. If the seller was able to get the feedback removed, I am fairly confident that you inadvertently commented on the dead watch battery in the seller feedback section, and they were able to get Amazon to remove the feedback because it was a product-related review, and not a comment on seller performance.
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This was in the days prior to seller feedback existing when Amazon was experimenting with different review formats, including paying for reviews with credits and free products, the latter programs still extant. I'm old, and I've been online since the days of Arpnet.
 
Hawkeye10 said:
Can you point to where this faith originates?

I would love it to have faith again.

I dont like being a sour puss.

tyvm

:2wave:
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I see how much young people are accomplishing. I look at my own kids and grandkids, their cousins and all of their friends. Some are slackers, but most are doing whatever, and doing a lot. I may not agree with them at times, but that's okay. I have confidence in what I observe for the most part.

I recently had a potential brush with thyroid cancer. I couldn't believe how young, efficient, and positive the medical staff were. No one who helped me was over age 30. Dedicated young people. My favorite niece is working at the same hospital where I was examined and diagnosed with a benign nodule picked up in a bi-annual carotid artery scan. She's 28 and a Nurse Practitioner. She accepted no money from the family, worked her way through school. I would gladly have covered all her schooling. She wanted it to be her accomplishment, and it is. We have a lot of young people in the service, college educated who didn't have to serve, but they volunteered because it is the right thing to do.

You have to have faith in your own children, that you taught them well to keep learning and doing, and how to enjoy it all.
 
OldFatGuy said:
I see how much young people are accomplishing. I look at my own kids and grandkids, their cousins and all of their friends. Some are slackers, but most are doing whatever, and doing a lot. I may not agree with them at times, but that's okay. I have confidence in what I observe for the most part.

I recently had a potential brush with thyroid cancer. I couldn't believe how young, efficient, and positive the medical staff were. No one who helped me was over age 30. Dedicated young people. My favorite niece is working at the same hospital where I was examined and diagnosed with a benign nodule picked up in a bi-annual carotid artery scan. She's 28 and a Nurse Practitioner. She accepted no money from the family, worked her way through school. I would gladly have covered all her schooling. She wanted it to be her accomplishment, and it is. We have a lot of young people in the service, college educated who didn't have to serve, but they volunteered because it is the right thing to do.

You have to have faith in your own children, that you taught them well to keep learning and doing, and how to enjoy it all.
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Ya you and me got into it once before on this subject.

I wish I had your confidence.
 
nota bene said:
Don't patronize me with scolding, insulting crap such as "You're better than this."

This subforum is entitled "Bias in the Media." This is a story about potential bias and its impact on writers, a topic in which I am keenly interested as a former journo myself. Don't feel obligated to post if this is all you've got.
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I'm not a former journo yet my instincts do not lead me to post junk from pyjama media, let alone actually thinking that Amazon is politically bias. All they care about is selling crap so logically it does not make any sense. It's instinct and common sense. In this current age of information overload, we must be more vigilant. No doubt the people at PJ Media know that publishing crap news like this will have like-minded people lapping it all up with no repercussions. That is their goal and you've helped them — hook, line and sinker.
 
"We do not permit reviews or votes on the helpfulness of reviews that are posted in exchange for compensation of any kind."

:bs

They post all kinds of "compensated" reviews by people that get the item for free if they will just review it.
free = five star review....with very few exceptions. Not even enough to be an exception.

The ice chest i ordered had a little hand written note. " free cup if you give review, GI "
I gave review (five stars) and no cup.
Damn lying Chinese bastids.

It is one hell of a nice ice chest though.
now, where's my cup!
 
Fraggle Rock said:
Love Amazon.....now even more than before. Don't worry Trumpy's you can always go to The Great Wal-mart of China
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So speech suppression is okay with you?
 
nota bene said:
If you do check, I'd really like to know. One conservative Hispanic author quoted in the article, Jon Del Arroz, says, "I believe the CLFA was targeted by an extreme alt-left troll mob running an email harassment campaign to Amazon who were enabled by a rogue Amazon employee." Maybe he's paranoid because of his own experiences (linked in article), but maybe this particular group is being targeted. I don't know.
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An extreme alt-left troll mob...

:lamo

...an email harassment campaign to Amazon who were enabled by a rogue Amazon employee.

Oh, come on. Is this a joke? A fiction writer coming up with such nonsense. Gotta be joking.
 
PleasantValley said:
"We do not permit reviews or votes on the helpfulness of reviews that are posted in exchange for compensation of any kind."

:bs

They post all kinds of "compensated" reviews by people that get the item for free if they will just review it.
free = five star review....with very few exceptions. Not even enough to be an exception.

The ice chest i ordered had a little hand written note. " free cup if you give review, GI "
I gave review (five stars) and no cup.
Damn lying Chinese bastids.

It is one hell of a nice ice chest though.
now, where's my cup!
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Go back and drop it a star, see if they budge. :lol:
 
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