Amazon Helpful Votes...

[reviews_and_ramblings]

... what is the mystery under them?

I really don't understand. I know that they are used to rank the review, and probably to rank also the reviewer, better I'm sure they are used for that, but I really don't understand how they are given and by whom.

I have a lot of helpful positive votes, 88% on the total, so I'm very grateful to people who click on "yes" this review was helpful for me, and tried to ignore the 12% of negative votes, but today I notice something really strange. I was the first to review a book, and, even if I shouldn't say it, my review was good, not only since I loved the book, but also since people, publisher and author told me so.

So I posted my review on Amazon, and for a bit I was alone and no helpful positive vote. Then today I received a negative vote... and guys that made me think, since I really think my review was good. So I click on the book and noticed that the same book has now two other reviews, five stars like me, and from two frequently reviewer like me. And they both had two helpful positve votes! Why me not? (pout).

But the most strange thing is when I post a good review, or at least a review that gives an idea of the book, when maybe there isn't even the product description (and this happens often) and I'm the only review, and someone click the helpful negative button... what the hell have I said to make that people click on the negative button?

It's not the first time I discuss this matter with other Amazon reviewers, Jetm in primis, but I read also a blog by Amos Lassen... but I'd like to listen also to my friends opinion, are those votes really "real", are they indicative of a good review or not?

Comments

[marymonroe.livejournal.com]

I don't always bother voting on the reviews I read on Amazon, most of the time because I'm not logged in and I don't want to bother doing so. Even then, I vote on maybe 1 out of every 10-15 reviews I quick-read (I rarely bother to read every word - sad, but true). I'd say there are two cases where I do bother voting. If a review gives me an information I didn't know and that I am happy to learn, or better, an information about that book that I was specifically looking for (for instance, does character X appear in the book?), then I click on "helpful". If I have read a book I thought was particularly bad, then happen to check that book's Amazon listing later and see a glowing review of it, then I'll click "unhelpful" (or the opposite, click unhelful on a bad review of a book I loved). Nothing personal to the reviewer; I don't have time to write reviews myself, so it's my only way to let other Amazon visitors I don't share that opinion. Oh, and I also click "unhelpful" for four-lines gushing reviews going like "OMG this was such an awesome book go buy it this author rocks!!!!". And I've clicked unhelpful if a review didn't help me make up my mind about the book because it was too vague, or unclear whether the reviewer actually liked it or not.

So, maybe it was just a case of someone who didn't think the same as you about the book, or who was looking for some specific information he/she considered important but that you didn't happen to cover because for you it wasn't a major point. It is nothing personal and has nothing about the quality of your reviews - having been a reviewer for so long, you know that there are always going to be people who'll disagree with you. Don't worry about that :).

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

Also I hate the two lines reviews that are only a gushing on the book... they are not reviews, they are comments! Oh well, probably I loved the book, but it was not a simple book, and someone else maybe hated it... or my review ;-) Elisa