Amazon's Terms of Service - are they fair to reviewers?
Posted: 06 Aug 2014, 15:19
I would like to hear your opinions on Amazon's Terms of Service when it comes to book reviews.
What I do like:
- clear rules that spell out what they can and can't accept as a book review on Amazon
What I don't like:
- Nearly anyone can write a review. This invites many fake and even evil reviews such as from Trolls who just want to criticise a competitive book.
- While they allow trolls to post reviews, they don't allow author's friends, family, editors or anyone related to the author in any way. Even authors swapping reviews is not allowed.
What I think they should do:
Follow what Smashwords and others do: only accept reviews from those that have purchased the book, so only "amazon verified purchase" reviews can be posted.
This will work fine for ebooks not for soft/hardback books purchased at a store. This is problem if Amazon apply this rule to ebooks only - this way at least ebooks get fairer reviews since it comes from only those that have purchased the book.
Do you agree? Your thoughts? Your reaction?
What I do like:
- clear rules that spell out what they can and can't accept as a book review on Amazon
What I don't like:
- Nearly anyone can write a review. This invites many fake and even evil reviews such as from Trolls who just want to criticise a competitive book.
- While they allow trolls to post reviews, they don't allow author's friends, family, editors or anyone related to the author in any way. Even authors swapping reviews is not allowed.
What I think they should do:
Follow what Smashwords and others do: only accept reviews from those that have purchased the book, so only "amazon verified purchase" reviews can be posted.
This will work fine for ebooks not for soft/hardback books purchased at a store. This is problem if Amazon apply this rule to ebooks only - this way at least ebooks get fairer reviews since it comes from only those that have purchased the book.
Do you agree? Your thoughts? Your reaction?