tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post4976771143967548586..comments2023-06-26T05:29:21.219-04:00Comments on The Harriet Klausner Appreciation Society: Free-for-all Vote: Amazon's Surprising LoopholeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-69429869544439006182008-02-27T19:53:00.000-05:002008-02-27T19:53:00.000-05:00"Suspicions that are on the money invariably turn ..."Suspicions that are on the money invariably turn out to be those too true to be good."<BR/><BR/>:-)))) That's one way of putting it! <BR/><BR/>Btw, an interesting topic for discussion: <BR/><BR/>I can understand that some sort of oversight should be exercised over a public discussion venue, such as the Amazon comments area. But who is to be the censor? I think most people would naturally chose Malleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-43156330563798794612008-02-27T18:19:00.000-05:002008-02-27T18:19:00.000-05:00At the same time, we've all known individuals and ...At the same time, we've all known individuals and corporations who'll do the right thing, though only as a last resort because they've been exposed and forced to. Maybe Amazon can be shamed into closing the loophole, doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.Stanley H Nemethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01614307917754419143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-11110980218312233532008-02-27T17:50:00.000-05:002008-02-27T17:50:00.000-05:00When you're dealing with the corporation and some ...When you're dealing with the corporation and some of the characters we've all been dealing with, it's pretty impossible to have too low a view of humanity. Suspicions that are on the money invariably turn out to be those too true to be good.Stanley H Nemethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01614307917754419143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-21932522843524710032008-02-27T15:54:00.000-05:002008-02-27T15:54:00.000-05:00I agree; the other stuff is curious but not nearly...I agree; the other stuff is curious but not nearly as important. <BR/><BR/>Btw, about your "on the surface Amazon has impediments in place against self-voting, the easy ways around these are matters the website seriously needs to address" -- perhaps my opinion of humanity is too low, but it seem to me that this has been done on purpose: so that an occasional visitor would see that he needs to logMalleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-30059252316969108362008-02-27T14:25:00.000-05:002008-02-27T14:25:00.000-05:00Folks:I don't think the central issue here is the ...Folks:<BR/>I don't think the central issue here is the oddity of what Amazon chooses to do with positive or negative votes in its ranking system. Instead, the issue is over whether such votes have in fact been legitimately cast, given the discovery that any enterprising person using voting-only accounts can easily inflate his own voting totals and get negative criticism covered over. The Stanley H Nemethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01614307917754419143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-70175556191548987292008-02-26T22:34:00.000-05:002008-02-26T22:34:00.000-05:00No, I don't care to research this either :-) . I d...No, I don't care to research this either :-) . I do remember reading some official Amazon missive going something like, "if you get a lot of votes we just may use them to promote you in the ranks" or something like that. But the "may" part renders the whole thing meaningless. <BR/><BR/>I wonder why this is such a secret... probably to make it look like what it ain't.Malleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-69638706811830032772008-02-26T21:56:00.000-05:002008-02-26T21:56:00.000-05:00I know it's been discussed and analized on the DB'...I know it's been discussed and analized on the DB's to death and the real formula is a deep dark secret at Amazon, as best as I can recall from previous discussions. Feel free to search the DB's or post a new thread, I'm too tired to think further about it tonight :o. And no, in this case it's NOT LE Cantell who analizes it (at least not this time).Cathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256349705432978540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-5825194552303449852008-02-26T21:06:00.000-05:002008-02-26T21:06:00.000-05:00Does Amazon spell it out anywhere? I mean, how do ...Does Amazon spell it out anywhere? I mean, how do people know the workings. L.E. Cantrell (hello, L.E. :-) would call it 'idle speculation'. And, in that particular case, he'd be right.Malleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-20817850324401000032008-02-26T20:25:00.000-05:002008-02-26T20:25:00.000-05:00It's been discussed several times on the DB's. I h...It's been discussed several times on the DB's. I have several reviewers I follow regularly, and I always give them helpful votes (because they are helpful). After a certain point in time (ten was the magic number mentioned) those votes will count towards VOTE TOTALS, but will no longer affect ranking. Same goes for the negatives (trolls -- take note).<BR/><BR/>I think it's a built in thing by Cathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256349705432978540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-74765956920870173212008-02-26T19:28:00.000-05:002008-02-26T19:28:00.000-05:00"After ten (I think) votes from one identity you c..."After ten (I think) votes from one identity you can't affect ranking anymore" - what do you mean?Malleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-62987312326320526932008-02-26T18:48:00.000-05:002008-02-26T18:48:00.000-05:00"I am truly surprised more people don't do this"It..."I am truly surprised more people don't do this"<BR/><BR/>It's a lot of work, ony an egomaniac would bother. After ten (I think) votes from one identity you can't affect ranking anymore. If these votes counted, he would have climbed at least one or two rankings wouldn't he?Cathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256349705432978540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-10166832821922257082008-02-26T14:59:00.000-05:002008-02-26T14:59:00.000-05:00You don't need to log in and out, just make a thro...You don't need to log in and out, just make a throwaway login, plug your votes, blow away the cookies, repeat. Couldn't be simpler, and yes, this is eminently automatable. <BR/><BR/>But I think Harp is doing it manually, because a lot of his vote is selective -- remember he not only votes for himself, but also against any critical comments so as to get them hidden/deleted-by-Amazon. That latter Malleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-64606179781727844622008-02-26T14:14:00.000-05:002008-02-26T14:14:00.000-05:00An interesting discovery and I tested it out with ...An interesting discovery and I tested it out with a fake email. Voila! I can vote on reviews and comments but I can't post comments. I wonder why they did this?<BR/><BR/>However, I'm still favoring the theory that he's doint it mechanically. Try timing how long it takes between votes on his reviews/comments as opposed to how long it takes to log out, log in, vote, log out, log in, vote, etc.Cathyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256349705432978540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6369920588474226441.post-68697341356117392782008-02-24T18:04:00.000-05:002008-02-24T18:04:00.000-05:00This is an amazing discovery! As everyone knows, o...This is an amazing discovery! As everyone knows, one must have purchased something on Amazon in order to post reviews and comments there. Yet, as Stanley's brilliant discovery shows, <B>no purchase is necessary in order to set up <I>a voting-only</I> account</B>. This takes just a couple of minutes. One can create any number of them and immediately start voting.<BR/><BR/>I believe this is the Malleushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10304227040238914084noreply@blogger.com