A glitch on Amazon.ca, Amazon.com's Canadian site, briefly revealed the identities of all reviewers who anonymously submitted their reviews of books, DVD's, and other products to the site.
According to the New York Times, the glitch seems to have exposed a culture among authors that use Amazons rating system as a way to give themselves glowing reviews, while giving scathing summaries to rival authors they don't like or feel threatened by.
The issue highlights a big problem with the growing trend of allowing customers to post opinions of what they buy on the Internet: How do readers really know what the motive of the reviewer is?
jake_lex
Lexington, KY
February 2003
FEB 15, 2004 08:52 AM