I spent the last two years actively trying to improve my Amazon Reviewer ranking. So from starting at a ranking of something like 2.656.832 I’ve now (as of November 2021) reached the dizzying heights of 526. That gets me a little badge, and, recently, entry into the Vine Voice programme. (For those of you not sure what that is – it’s where you can request things, manufacturers send it to you for free and you write an honest and truthful review of what you thought about it. I was hoping for big screen tvs, cars, computers and the like, but in reality so far it seems to have been mostly home crafting items, but we live in hope…)
Amazon’s a funny old beast and what makes for a ‘popular’ review varies. I’ve written mini-dissertations that have received no helpful reviews and I’ve written a one line sarcastic one that’s had over 150 helpful reviews to date (If you’re wondering it was for Bob Mortimer’s autobiography which read:
I also found you tend to get lots of helpful votes if you slag something popular off. I tend not to do that, and actually went through my review history and removed a whole bunch of reviews that, while not mean spirited, were negative: it does make a difference when you start trying to write something yourself and realise how much effort goes into it. So now, if I don’t like something I just move on and don’t review it. To hell with the cheap and easy ‘helpful votes’ for spite. Life’s too short.
Anyway, all this means I’ve been writing reviews on the books, music, tv shows and to a lesser extent other products I’ve been purchasing. You can find a list of my reviews here – take a look and if you agree with any of them please do mark a helpful vote.
Part of the reason for doing this was to be a bit less passive in my consumption, part of it was to try and work out a bit more about the way the weird and sometimes wonderful way Amazon’s reviewing algorithms work.
While I can’t say I’ve discovered anything definitive, I have found out a few interesting things around:
- Amazon’s ‘rules’
- How to get more helpful votes on a review
- What it means for reviewers when they get those reviews
- Whether there are any benefits to writing reviews on Amazon – either as a reader/ viewer or as a writer.
It’s quite a chunky report, but if you’re a writer or, indeed, a reader you might find some things of interest in there.
To get a free copy of it, just send me a message via the CONTACT form and I’ll email you your very own pdf of the report.
And if you don’t want a copy of the report but just want to see my reviews – just click here and please leave a helpful vote if you find anything…helpful.
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