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Oh Amazon, when you fail you do so spectacularly! I spent three days away from the computer only to return to an inbox and twitter stream full of "#amazonfail" and "#glitchmyass". I was expecting that someone had a really bad customer service experience. That would be so much better than what I found when I started reading. It seems that a great number of books that have GLBTQ themes were being labelled as "adult" and being pulled out of Amazon sales rankings and searches.
I started off reading a link to the the Seattle Post Intelligencer blog that someone sent me and followed links from there. First to Mark Probst's blog. Probst is an author who noticed that his young adult novel, The Filly, had been removed from Amazon rankings. The email he received from a customer servicerepresentative stated the following:
In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.
As Probst went on to point out in blog post his book is YA and not "adult" and meanwhile Playboy books have no problem staying in the rankings.
As the twitterstorm brewed it was becoming increasingly obvious that a lot of books containing GLBT themes had been stripped of their Amazon rankings. Censorship flags were flying high.
At Booksquare Kassia Krozser wrote an open letter to Amazon.
As a heterosexual, happily married adult female, I am deeply offended by this decision. As a customer, I am angered enough to take my business elsewhere, and I’d like a refund on my Kindle since, despite reports that your database sweep was not complete, you have decided to limit my ability to purchase books — from literary classics like Lady Chatterley’s Lover to newesque titles like Tipping The Velvet and Running With Scissors.
The ladies at Smart Bitches Love Trashy Books didn't mince words when they stated their opinion of the events.
What, I ask, the fucking fuckhell? Many an Amazon customer is infuriated, and the #amazonfail hashtag on Twitter has pretty much become the only thing worth following. What to do, what to do?
It’s time to hit ‘em where it hurts. No, not a boycott. When you want someone to pay attention, you hit ‘em in the PR.
It’s Google Bomb Time!
Yes, they are Google Bombing Amazon Rank. Their definition includes (but is not limited to so click on the link for the full version):
1. To censor and exclude on the basis of adult content in literature (except for Playboy, Penthouse, dogfighting and graphic novels depicting incest orgies).
2. To make changes based on inconsistent applications of standards, logic and common sense.Amazon clearly did not officially respond right away, as one would expect on a Sunday (Easter Sunday to boot). When they did respond it was declared a "glitch" and that Amazon does not have a new policy regarding "adult" titles. As Publisher's Weekly observed, bloggers aren't buying it.
Bloggers aren't buying the glitch explanation and some are calling an Amazon boycott, but the fact that such a wide range of titles have lost their rankings suggest that whatever Amazon may have been trying to do went haywire.
Jane at Dear Author did some metadata investigation. The conclusion? It would have to be one heck of a sophisticated "glitch".
Thus, as a “glitch” it was a remarkably targeted one that seems to support the emails that Mark Probst and Craig Seymour received from Amazon which was gay and lesbian works were deemed “adult” content regardless of actual content. This evidence appears to indicate that it isn’t so much a glitch but a specific policy. The question is then who implemented the policy of marking GLBT books as adult and who knew of the implementation? What kind of supervisory person signed off on it?
This are just the tip of the #amazonfail iceberg. I had no problem finding people who are less than pleased with Amazon about this "glitch".
Angry Black Woman on Amazonfail
Oh Amazon, when you fail you fail so very, very hard.
And then you fail harder by lying. Or, if not lying, covering your ass without checking whether someone in your organization has already said that you’re doing exactly what you just said you’re not doing and haven’t been doing since February.
This is a form of censorship. And while it may be that Amazon has the legal right to censorship on their website, that doesn’t mean anyone has to stand for
