Amazon ads have been temporarily removed

[Moke]

A few people may have heard of this but it seems to be all over the internet today.

I'm still learning about this but the general gist is that many gay and lesbian titles and authors have been 'deranked', and stating the reason is 'adult content'. This means that you won't be able to find these titles through any kind of search at Amazon-- some of these titles are best sellers. A few articles and visuals are floating about the 'net, I'm sure if you google the phrase Amazon Rank you will get a full understanding, and more, of the situation.

The only real revenue that this site receives is from Amazon, however PW is supportive of ladies from ALL backgrounds and so until Amazon corrects their policy on censorship of Gay and Lesbian texts, and removes the vehemently anti gay selections from the 'homosexuality' search on their site, I feel I cannot ask my members to patronize Amazon so that the site can get a kickback.

There are rumblings that this is already being corrected but until it has been rectified the ads will not return. Eventually I will move to another ad service if necessary.

A few articles for your reference:

La Times Blog (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/04/amazon-deranks-gayfriendly-books-the-twitterverse-notices.html)

What you see when you enter the term homosexualy at amazon (http://i633.photobucket.com/albums/uu51/kleimheist/09around1850.png)

List of books that have been deranked (http://community.livejournal.com/meta_writer/11992.html)

Smart Bitches Trashy Books take on the subject (http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/amazon-rank/)

article at jezebel magazine blog (http://jezebel.com/5209197/amazon-fail-the-pictures-say-it-all)

Another Jezebel Article (http://jezebel.com/5209088/why-is-amazon-removing-the-sales-rankings-from-gay-lesbian-books)

A good place to start: A google search for Amazon Rank removal (http://www.google.com/search?q=amazon+rank+removal&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_en___US318)

Naively, I hope that this is a glitch and that it will be corrected. It's hard to believe that this is an actual marketplace POLICY. We'll see.

[bstace]

wow. thanks for bringing this to my attention. i HATE censorship of any kind, especially if it is done in a hateful manner.

[Allison]

Wow. :(

Thank you for taking a stand, Dom.

[purple]

What a load of crap. :mad:

Where is the donate button in the new skin? I'd like to make a small donation to offset the loss of ad revenue (and I've been meaning to forever anyway).

[Moke]

I hadn't put that back up yet because I was trying to figure out how many ads could fit over there. :laugh:

The paypal addy is admin@phenomsonline.com if you'd like to donate, however it's not really necessary, we're covered for a while, thanks to past generosity. I didn't mean to bang the donations drum, just alert people to what's going on, and explain why the ads are gone.

[purple]

It's literally been on my to-do list since last summer. :laugh: This just made me think about it. It's not much, but I love this place so much /mo that I feel like it's something I need to do. :)

[Moke]

According to Amazon, it's a glitch. (http://mobile.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6651080.html)


So. When they fix the 'glitch', then people will buy from them, again. *shrugs* So, fix it. Not to mention according to some sites it's been going on since February.

[taragunner]

Assholes. Had I known about this they would not have gotten so much money from me in the past year. Thank you for taking a strong position against that blatant discrimination. :love:

[Sheri Ruth]

:word:

I am so proud of you for doing the right thing Moke.

[Moke]

Well we can't help what we don't know, and it appears they just started doing it. TBH, I love Amazon and I need them to fix this right away, but... I just can't send my members there to spend money so I can make a commission.

[Phoebe]

Wow! I had not heard of this. I love you, Moke - you always seem to do the right thing. :love:

[SmileyAmy]

What azhats!! Glad you are standing up for what you believe to be right!!

[Moke]

UPDATE: As far as I can tell or have heard, the 'glitch' has been corrected and GLBTQ titles have been returned to regular search pages. There are a few bloggers complaining that that their titles haven't been returned yet, but I am more inclined to think that this is a case by case basis and not a deliberate attempt on Amazon's part to not sell those titles.

I've heard two explanations (http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/04/14/did-weev-play-a-role-in-amazon-error/), each in direct contradiction to the other. One is that someone in France got confused with categories and messed up the entire system. The other is that a hacker named weev wrote some malicious code and implemented it Easter weekend. I'm not sure which to believe, or if both of them are big fat lies. The hacker readily admits his wrongdoings and Amazon readily admits it's staffer's mistake.

:wtf: No idea. Anyway, unless there are objections, Amazon ads will return tomorrow.

[Mrs Sarah]

You are good peeps, Moke. Thanks for being so awesome.