On
Amazon, no such thing as impartial review
Who are the anonymous book reviewers on Amazon.com who use
such grandiose words as "masterful," "page-turner" and
"tear-jerker” in their reviews? About 10 million readers have
posted reviews on Amazon, which does not require reviewers to provide
their names or other personal data. But those who signed their critiques
as "a reader from (fill in the city)" lost their anonymity
earlier this week when a glitch on the Canadian web site accidentally
switched reviewers’ screen names with their real names. Among those
whose identities were revealed were authors who posted glowing reviews of
their own work in hopes of boosting sales. This “unfortunate error,”
as it was called by Amazon, exposed the anonymous book reviewing
feature’s potential not only for self-promotion but also for revenge.
Writer John Rechy confessed to writing a review of his own book under the
pseudonym "a reader from Chicago," saying that if anyone could
come in and trash a book anonymously, he should be able to go in and rebut
it. Author Dave Eggers admitted to writing fabulous reviews for friends
when he suspected that rivals had bashed
their books
anonymously.
Business
travelers rush to online booking
While many business travelers continue to head for the
telephone instead of the keyboard when planning a trip, this may not be
the case for long. A new report from PhoCusWright Inc., a company that
supplies the travel and tourism industry with research and forecasts,
suggests that online travel booking is capturing an increasing share of
the corporate travel market. Companies are trying to save money and get
the best travel deals, shifting responsibility for travel arrangements
onto their employees through online systems. Susan Steinbrink, who
authored the report, estimates that about 23 percent of U.S. corporate
travel bookings are now made online. The $18.8 billion worth of air, car
rental and hotel industry revenue came from bookings made via online sites
will grow to 38.5 percent of total sales in 2006, when they are expected
to reach $36.5 billion. Much of the expected growth, the report
speculates, will come from mid-sized companies, where there is no travel
manager, no uniform travel policy or travel agency to manage the company's
travel activities.
eBay
has monopoly on faux jail-free cards
Contrary to what some naive eBay buyers may believe, real
life does not work like a game of Monopoly. Hundreds of police-union
wallet cards have been put up for auction on the popular internet auction
site and they are being gobbled up by buyers who mistakenly believe that
flashing one of these “get out of jail free” cards will convince
police to let them off from speeding tickets and other minor infractions.
These New York Police Department union “courtesy cards” were
originally intended as keepsakes or as a fund-raiser for police widows and
children. For the record, all you’ll get from flashing it is an irate
policeman.
Mitsubishi:
Our ad destiny lies online
Mitsubishi Motors is jettisoning ads featuring hip
twentysomethings poppin’ and groovin’ to thumping dance music while
cruising city streets in favor of more ads like its Super Bowl cliffhanger
from Interpublic Group's Deutsch/LA. SeeWhatHappens.com recorded 11
million hits in the six hours following the ad's debut as people logged on
to see a Mitsubishi Galant triumphing over a Toyota Camry in a
crash-avoidance test, receiving more visitors in its first 24 hours than
MitsubishiCars.com usually does in a month. The new ads will target a
slightly older demographic than the previous ones.
|
