In which Amazon loses my business.
Apr. 12th, 2009 07:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
velvetpageOthers have documented this better than I could hope to. If you're on twitter, it's #amazonfail and it's the number one trending topic at this moment.
Long story short: with no clear rhyme or reason, and certainly without any kind of coherent justification that stands up to scrutiny, Amazon has removed the sales rankings of a whole bunch of books that fall under the categories of gay, lesbian, homosexual, etc. When you search Amazon based on topic, the results that come up are listed according to their sales ranking, which means that removing the sales ranking makes it near-impossible to search for those books unless you know specifics like the author's name or the title of the book.
It's important to note that many of these books are not adult content. Picture books about kids with two mommies, history books about famous gays throughout history, and young adult fiction dealing with kids who realize they're gay, have all had their rankings removed. Meanwhile, if you search for "pornography," three of the five top hits are actual porn. Can we say double standard?
There are letter-writing campaigns already in progress. I'm holding off until I see the reaction - if their reaction is to immediately undo all the wrong and apologize, I probably won't yank my business entirely. Anything else? Yeah, going elsewhere. Amazon may have the lion's share of the market but they don't deserve to keep it if this is what they're going to do with it.
EDIT: It took most of the day, but it's starting to hit mainstream media. As an aside, I hatehatehate the justification that "private businesses can do whatever they want with their products." That's true to a point, but they've entered into a contract with the people who sell them that product, and actions like this one seem to unilaterally change the contract - or at least the expectations that come with Amazon, one of which is sales rankings. OF COURSE those authors have the right to be pissed, and so do their fans!
Long story short: with no clear rhyme or reason, and certainly without any kind of coherent justification that stands up to scrutiny, Amazon has removed the sales rankings of a whole bunch of books that fall under the categories of gay, lesbian, homosexual, etc. When you search Amazon based on topic, the results that come up are listed according to their sales ranking, which means that removing the sales ranking makes it near-impossible to search for those books unless you know specifics like the author's name or the title of the book.
It's important to note that many of these books are not adult content. Picture books about kids with two mommies, history books about famous gays throughout history, and young adult fiction dealing with kids who realize they're gay, have all had their rankings removed. Meanwhile, if you search for "pornography," three of the five top hits are actual porn. Can we say double standard?
There are letter-writing campaigns already in progress. I'm holding off until I see the reaction - if their reaction is to immediately undo all the wrong and apologize, I probably won't yank my business entirely. Anything else? Yeah, going elsewhere. Amazon may have the lion's share of the market but they don't deserve to keep it if this is what they're going to do with it.
EDIT: It took most of the day, but it's starting to hit mainstream media. As an aside, I hatehatehate the justification that "private businesses can do whatever they want with their products." That's true to a point, but they've entered into a contract with the people who sell them that product, and actions like this one seem to unilaterally change the contract - or at least the expectations that come with Amazon, one of which is sales rankings. OF COURSE those authors have the right to be pissed, and so do their fans!