Astroturfing Amazon
Maybe it isn't news that customer reviews of books on Amazon should be taken with a grain of salt, but this piece from the Daily Mail is interesting for pointing out the degree to which reviews may go beyond just poor taste to bad intent. Some writers claim that rival publishers are posting fake reviews to trash their books, and conversely, one PR firm offers services to post favorable reviews by the appropriate demographic mix of readers for a given title. You mean I can't believe everything I read on the internet? My whole world is shattered now.
