Buying Fake Book Reviews

There are moments in any evolving industry, when certain business practices are brought into question. Unfortunately, many feel ethics has little place in business. It's okay to deceive, to spit on others to get ahead--"it's just business."

Basically, this guy, Todd Rutherford, claimed he was creating "marketing reviews." He saw the book industry was changing, that traditional marketing was no longer working as well as it once had to sell books, and that there was a burgeoning market of wannabes publishing their total shit novels willing to pay to be noticed. The problem with this is that the system only works if consumers like you and me can rely on honest consumers to give us insight into what they truly like.

Personally, what I like about online commerce is the that sales are more honestly consumer based. I value personal and honest reviews. Reviews are valuable to readers to decide what they'd like to read next, but also to writers to know which aspects of their work people respond to positively and which they do not.

Todd Rutherford has grievously wounded people's trust in this system.

Here's some more info, in case you're interested:

The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy - The New York Times

Buying Fake Reviews: 6 Things to Know if You're Tempted

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