Do You Trust Amazon Reviews?

[Scott]

I recently wrote an article Are Big Book Publishers Going The Way Of Newspapers? The main idea of that is that the book market is--in my opinion at least--becoming more and more decentralized. There are both increasingly more indie or self-published books available and more of them being actually read.

However, as I touch on in that article, what I believe is most slowing that process is that the cultural infrastructure isn't there yet. Basically, I see what goes on here at OnlineBookClub as the embryonic form of the new world of how people choose books to read. Namely, that is personal recommendations and book reviews from trusted sources.

However, what do we so often see, especially from independent publishers and aspiring authors? We see such a focus on the short, anonymous reviews from alleged buyers on the big book-selling sites. Namely Amazon!

Let me answer my own question before I even ask it. I don't trust Amazon reviews. That is unless maybe if there are hundreds or thousands of reviews for a book or product, but even then I still take it with a grain of salt.

If I see some indie book I have never heard about with a handful of 5-out-of-5-star glowing reviews, I don't think "Oh wow this book must be a great hidden gem; everyone who reads it loves it!" Rather, I think, "Looks like the only people who even read this book are the close friends and family of the author." Or worse, nobody read it and the Amazon "reviews" are just from fictional accounts created by the author or indie publisher or even, even more worse are just paid reviews from dishonest reviewers who--unlike OnlineBookClub--offer meaningless positive reviews instead of honest ones. Frankly, if anything having a handful of very positive reviews on Amazon makes me think a little less of the book. It reminds of the "customer testimonials" from TV infomercials.

It is soooo different from the kind of thing we get here not only with our official reviews, but also with recommendations made to each other in passing during our countless discussions on the forums or through top-rated books on Bookshelves. Sometimes it's probably less that a book has 'most popular' or 'most highly rated' status on Bookshelves that would lead someone to be interested in it, but rather that the book appears on a specific other member's 4-out-of-4-shelf whose tastes you share or whose opinion you've come to trust from getting to know that person on our unique online community. One of our official reviewer's recommendations might mean more to one reader than another, especially if their tastes seem to match; while for another reader it may be vice versa.

That's why it matches the new age in which there is not going to be a one-size-fits-all way of rating books--and in which lots of different books are each going to be read by a smaller group of people instead of a small group of books each being read by a whole lot of people. I don't mean to say this is only happening on OnlineBookClub; the same thing happens even offline when your own friends or family give you recommendations, which you probably weigh not just by how much you like the person but by how much you have learned you share that person's tastes as you have gotten to know the person.

In short, the point is this: Recommendations and reviews on this site are not anonymous. They are from known members of our community. On Amazon, they are not only anonymous, but frankly they often seem like complete BS.

But I'm not always known for sharing the common opinion on things. So what do you all think? Do you trust Amazon reviews? Why or why not? What do you think when you look at a relatively unknown book and it has several very positive reviews on Amazon? What do you think when an author or indie publisher responds to off-of-Amazon criticism of their book by pointing to their handful of glowing Amazon reviews?

[Ant]

I think I do trust the reviews yes, I've never been that much into Big Brother and conspiracy theories. I dare say that some of the first reviews of a new piece of work would be done by friends/relatives but true reviews would come through after a few people had read the work....even if their reviews were not on Amazon, and if the reviews were that different they would stand out.

[DATo]

Who leaves reviews at Amazon? Those who have read the book. Why did they read the book? Because they have a predilection for the type of book being reviewed either because of its genre or author etc. So from this we may conclude that the majority of people reviewing the book are people who WANTED to read this type of book. Therefore, there is greater likelihood that they will have a positive attitude toward what they have read. So from this we may further conclude that at very least the reviews are statistically slanted in favor of a positive recommendation .... how convenient for Amazon!

If I am NOT into this genre of story I may dislike the book regardless of how glowing the recommendations are. This does not mean that a browser cannot get a fix on the book or form a reasonable opinion as to whether or not he/she would like to read it based upon the review. Often a review sparks curiosity on the part of the review reader.

There should be a third voting option ... "Sometimes" .... I would go with sometimes.

[gali]

I agree with you and I don't trust Amazon reviews either, especially 5 stars ones. I always read the 3 stars reviews, since I put more stock in them. I much prefer reviews here to those on Amazon.

[ylisa7]

Well I don't trust any of Chris Roberts reviews who is infamous on Amazon . I doubt he reads most of the books that he bashes.

As for other reviews on Amazon I go through and read them. I like to read the people who don't rate a book so high. I like to know what they didn't like about it. There are many times online and in real life that I read a book that has rave reviews and it just doesn't work for me.

As with any review whether it a book or a product I use reviews as a reference but I don't trust many of them. On another track I hate the recipe sites where people give a recipe 5 stars because it "sounds" good…grr…..really!!!

I find that people tend to review things more positively if they own something. A huge example of that was when my husband and I lived and traveled in a motorhome for 3 1/2 years. Ask anyone how they like their motorhome/trailer and they will give you rave reviews…it's the best, I love it, etc. In fact most RV's are junk…sorry to say but that is the truth of it. They always need some kind of repair or work. My husband came up with a new question for them "how is your service department?" And that is when we found out the truth.


It's nice to know what kinds of books others like before I trust their reviews. Even then we will disagree on some books. That's just the way it is.


Long story short, lol, I don't trust Amazon reviews but I do read them because some people will tell the truth even when it's not popular. I especially don't trust the Free Kindle reviews. I think those must be friends and family in many cases.

[Mialp]

Provided there's a spectrum of reviews yes I do. It's fairly easy to spot those posted by a PR company or the author's mother!

[Duende Knocking]

It depends on the book, I guess.

I tend to not trust reviews for self-published books or ones from very obscure publishers. Those tend to have absurdly high ratings (and an abnormal amount of reviews) and I can't help but be suspicious that they all come from friends/family of the author.

For really, really popular books, I don't trust them either. You end up with a lot of people who rate it low out of spite, rate it high to be part of the crowd, and then people who read 1 book a year because it was a bestseller (sorry! don't really trust their opinion as much).

Books that are more middle-of-the-ground? I tend to look at the 1-star reviews actually, and see if the complaints seem valid (recently I saw a 1-star review that just said a book written in the 1970s used the term "USSR" and that was incorrect now). Then I might look at a couple of the other reviews. Overall though, I just kind of read them if I'm bored. They rarely have a huge effect on whether or not I buy the book.

[LivreAmour217]

For the most part, I trust the reviews on Amazon. While I've never posted a review for a book on Amazon, I have left feedback on other products I've purchased, and I like to think that those who post book reviews on the site are basically doing the same thing.

I actually have a weird habit of reading a book, and then reading the reviews left on Amazon. Most of the time, there is a good mixture of positive and negative postings, especially for bestsellers. But I do agree with Scott on one point: I am dubious when I see indie books that only have a handful of glowing reviews--I often wonder if those people are friends and relatives of the author.

[Bluedonutcentral]

I would have to say that I do trust amazon reviews, to be honest though I never really thought to mistrust any of their reviews.

[zeldas_lullaby]

I was thinking of starting a similar thread, and I have plenty to say about this.

I've been painting my bedroom, and I went to Amazon to finally leave a 5-star review for frog tape, a product that has massively improved how well I paint. Imagine my surprise that it had so many negative reviews! I was shocked. I've heard that there's corporate sabotage going on, and that's the first reason that I do NOT trust Amazon reviews.

With books, I have a lot of confusion on this issue. I'm like Livre--I like to read a book (or attempt a book until I bail) and then read the reviews. If I loved the book, the poor reviews seem hostile and more negative than necessary. If I hated a book and/or could not finish, the positive reviews seem suspect.

And sometimes there's stuff going on in the reviews that shouldn't be. Someone will leave a 1-star review full of spoilers, but without the word SPOILER, thus achieving the goal of keeping people from reading the book--it's been ruined. Or someone will say, about a 100% wood bed frame, that IKEA does it better. (IKEA uses particle board and cheap veneers.) So, no again on the trust issue.

And then there are obvious times when the reviewer knows the writer personally, had a bad business venture, and is now attacking the book by making stuff up about it. You can just tell.

I also take issue with Amazon's "helpful" system. If I take the time to write a thoughtful review, like I did once for a DVD set that had compressed sound and no closed-captions (I'm half deaf), then I don't want to find out a month later that 1 out of 17 people found that review helpful. It hurts my feelings! Why does Amazon allow that? Why not just show that one person found it helpful and leave it at that? I've sent them countless emails about this, but they don't care. Ultimately, it's left me highly unlikely to go to Amazon and share my thoughts.

I have reached a point of not trusting Amazon reviews. How do you weed out the honest ones from the ones with ulterior motives?

And then there's latent hostility. If someone out there works for the DVD company that failed to include closed-captions, that person will access all of my reviews and click "unhelpful" straight down the list.

As for self-published books, my first book, Corey to the Rescue!, has 12 reviews. I paid for ten of them from a company that promised honest reviews, and not fake-good ones. (Was I naive to assume they meant it? They all gave me good reviews.) I paid for another review, singly, in the same fashion. And then, hidden in there, one of the 12 reviews is from my mother. Now, if anyone out there wants to play, and try to guess which reviewer is my mother, then game on. (No, really. This could be fun.)

Admittedly, those reviews that I bought did not drum up any business. At the time, I didn't know what other path to take. I'm still proud of those reviews, though, because they all say good things about my book.

Here's a problem from the self-published author's perspective: getting anyone out there that you know to read and review your book is like pulling teeth: it's impossible. So, Scott, you may be wrong that it's all friends and family. Like, with me, my sister just flat-out refuses to read my book. (She doesn't like fiction.) My dad doesn't use a computer. (He uses a typewriter.) My extended family members always say, "I loved your book! I read it in two days. I should get on Amazon and leave a review." But do they? NOO!! And friends who I distribute the book to never leave reviews either.

I personally would never want "fake" good reviews. But I've struggled with getting reviews at all.

[Jill D]

That's a good question. I tend to discount any reviews that just say "It was a fast read" or "a good story". Then I will read the reviews that explain why they react the way they do to the story, if they know the author's other work, or would they read more by this author. If the review seems thoughtful, i am more inclined to believe it is authentic. And, although, that may not make my mind up for me, it might indicate to me whether i might like this story, but the decision to read it is always my own. I have discovered gems sitting with mediocre reviews.

I think people read for very different reasons. Some from boredom, some to learn, some just want a good story, some want to be touched, influenced. Some to gather new information and new ways of experiencing things, to spark the imagination. Or to bring clarity to a subject previously not well known.

Thank you Zelda for your point of view..it becomes a whole different issue when you are an author. Clearly, it is very personal. Your love for your story and the art, mixed with the reality of the business end of things.

[amandanicole books]

I rarely trust anything if it is not scientifically back. Difficult to choose things without opinions so I try to find someone who is trustworthy and relatable to me

[zeldas_lullaby]

Thank you Zelda for your point of view..it becomes a whole different issue when you are an author. Clearly, it is very personal. Your love for your story and the art, mixed with the reality of the business end of things.

Thanks for understanding! Your last sentence pretty much says it all.

[ylisa7]

I've been painting my bedroom, and I went to Amazon to finally leave a 5-star review for frog tape, a product that has massively improved how well I paint. Imagine my surprise that it had so many negative reviews! I was shocked. I've heard that there's corporate sabotage going on, and that's the first reason that I do NOT trust Amazon reviews.

Funny, my stepdaughter has been raving about the Frog tape….I have been using the blue tape for years and it is now horrible. The paint seeps through and it tears when you take it off. I trust my stepdaughter


I have reached a point of not trusting Amazon reviews. How do you weed out the honest ones from the ones with ulterior motives?

You don't. Read them and take many with a grain of salt. Most people sadly lie even about the silliest of things. They like to belong and tend to jump on the bandwagon with no individual thought.



Here's a problem from the self-published author's perspective: getting anyone out there that you know to read and review your book is like pulling teeth: it's impossible. So, Scott, you may be wrong that it's all friends and family. Like, with me, my sister just flat-out refuses to read my book. (She doesn't like fiction.) My dad doesn't use a computer. (He uses a typewriter.) My extended family members always say, "I loved your book! I read it in two days. I should get on Amazon and leave a review." But do they? NOO!! And friends who I distribute the book to never leave reviews either.

I personally would never want "fake" good reviews. But I've struggled with getting reviews at all.

So many people have different ideas of what a good book is. I also dislike the people who leave reviews on a product that they just got. I want to know how it is a year from now.

I don't leave book reviews on Amazon but I do on Goodreads. I will say that a book is a good or an easy read. That is just a reminder to me that it is a book to read if you don't want a deep meaning or heavy thinking book. I don't have a problem with that. I don't like the reviews that recap the whole book….really….we can read the description on the book. I also don't like the long winded reviews.



Good luck on your book.

[TLGabelman]

If I see some indie book I have never heard about with a handful of 5-out-of-5-star glowing reviews, I don't think "Oh wow this book must be a great hidden gem; everyone who reads it loves it!" Rather, I think, "Looks like the only people who even read this book are the close friends and family of the author." Or worse, nobody read it and the Amazon "reviews" are just from fictional accounts created by the author or indie publisher or even, even more worse are just paid reviews from dishonest reviewers who--unlike OnlineBookClub--offer meaningless positive reviews instead of honest ones. Frankly, if anything having a handful of very positive reviews on Amazon makes me think a little less of the book. It reminds of the "customer testimonials" from TV infomercials.

Took the words right out of my mouth! If a reviewer doesnt back up their testimony with their name it doesnt mean anything in my opinion. 5 star kudos from an anonymous person has about as much weight to it as a balloon in a swimming pool. I do sometimes read these reviews and laugh. On the other hand if I see a middle of the road rating averaged by a lot of people on Amazon Ill give the book more consideration.