CNET is reporting that some authors believe that Amazon changed it’s ranking to exclude gay and lesbian literature from their rankings system.
I have spent the morning searching the web for an indication that Amazon is attempting to bury GLBT literature and I can’t find it. I did get an email from an unnamed source at Amazon. They say:
“Amazon tries to flag adult products like toys and products w/ explicit nudity on packaging to prevent them from popping up when they’re not desired (eg Doc Johnson is a manufacturer of adult toys and used to show up when unsuspecting moms searched for Johnson & Johnson or people shopping for plush rabbits would see The Rabbit in search results) – I’m sure you can imagine the various combinations here. This episode really was just a glitch in trying to handle this type of adult-themed product and had nothing to do w/ targeting gay/lesbian lit. Trust me, it’s just a flag that was too broadly applied by some poor dev guy by mistake.”
Based on the fact that I have known this person for over twenty years, I’m going to have to say to Amazon, “Hurry up and fix it! Then apologize and move on.”
The #AmazonFAIL hashtag has been part one of the top ten twitter searches for the past 36 hours. According to my compete toolbar, Twitter had over 14 million visitors in March of 2009, so yes, perception is everything.
8 comments… read them below or add one
nice tribute jessica. you always have the right touch ; )
Never trust an unnamed source. I’m sure they’re telling you what they have been told to say by their employers, but:
This episode really was just a glitch in trying to handle this type of adult-themed product and had nothing to do w/ targeting gay/lesbian lit.
Someone, at some point, made the decision that a metatag using “lesbian”, “gay”, “bisexual”, “transgender” denoted “adult” material.
I’m sure it never occurred to whoever made that decision that they would, by this, be removing non-fiction about gays in the military and acclaimed novels by award-winning writers. Because I should think whoever made this decision thought of “LGBT” as wholly and exclusively sexual – pornographic, extreme, private. The straight male gaze, on the other hand – normal. Playboy Centerfolds and Fight Club – just fine.
Trying to argue there was no homophobia or transphobia or sexism involved in this glitch won’t wash. There clearly was, and by this time, no matter how many employees Amazon despatch to go give “unnamed source” information to blogger friends, they really need to admit they screwed up, fix it, and apologise.
It’s an unnamed source only to you.
To me, it’s a friend of over 20 years. How cool would it be if you read the whole post?
Your widget is the best punctuation mark I’ve ever seen on a blog post.
I agree, if they just fix it and apologize…we can all move on.
I truly hope your source is right, and that amazon does something about it AND apologizes – quick! of all entities, they should understand the importance of perception (see their stock chart from July ’08 til Nov ’08).
One point I hope doesn’t get buried in all of this is that the button that DOES cause something to be deemed inappropriate is there, and it doesn’t take that many people to click it and remove something. One tiny hate group with nothing better to do could game the system pretty effectively and quickly.
Glad to see more people blogging about this..love the widget inclusion. In my post, I included all of my own books that should probably have their ranks removed as well…
David
Jessica: To me, it’s a friend of over 20 years.
Yes, I read the whole post. That’s still an unnamed source. “Works for Amazon” – what as? Chief programmer? PA to the CEO? Customer service responder? Do they have permission from their bosses to talk with you? If they don’t, what source of information are they going from – official company memos saying “OF COURSE WE;RE NOT HOMOPHOBIC”?
My point stands: whether the mass wipeout was a “glitch” or what, it plainly couldn’t have worked without someone at Amazon making some fairly homophobic decisions and not being called on them.
It seems the Amazon thing was a prank by this guy: [redacted - I won't link to hackers - sorry]
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