I received a disturbing e-mail today. Someone is offering a Nook as a prize to one
lucky contest winner. There's one catch.
To enter, you have to get onto Amazon and give his book a five-star review.
I guess I should not be surprised. Less than honorable activities have been
going on there for quite some time. What is surprising, however, is the openness
of the activity. One might think
cheating in this matter is done secretly, under the table, and the person doing
it wants to keep his shame hidden. But
to send a mass e-mail to people he does not even know?
We've known there is a lack of objectivity in the
Amazon reviews. Almost every review is a
five-star one. People are getting their friends to write reviews, signing onto
bogus accounts, paying people for reviews, and now this.
One would think that Amazon would be most concerned
of all. Activities like this assault the
brand and undermine their credibility. Do
they take action? The guy posting does not seem to think they will.
