- Report: #835580
Complaint Review: Ebookmall - Internet
Reported By:
lanzones -
Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Ebookmall
Internet, United States of America
Phone:
Web:
www.ebookmall.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Ebookmall ebookmall.com Phony Book Reviews, Internet
I have to wonder if the book reviews on this site are fake. I recently saw an ad soliciting book reviewers (see this ad below). The ad read that book reviewers are to review 50-100 books per day. They are instructed to give 3 to 5 stars for a review. One or two stars (poor or fair) is not allowed.
The reviewer is given a list of sites to "research" the book. The reviewer quickly scans information ABOUT the book. The reviewer is never asked to actually READ the book. The reviewer works 8 hours per day. If you do the math, this would mean that an enitre review is researched and written in less than 9 minutes.
I know contractual agreements for reviewers is an entire industry, and that there are many phony reviews. I am just pointing out this particular site. I have to wonder if ANY of their reviews are legitimate. The ad for reviewers appeared on the website www.peopleperhour.com. This is how it reads:
"We are looking for multiple freelancers interested in writing short book reviews for us on a weekly basis. Reviews should between 80-150 words and you need to post them on our website at the corresponding bookpage, including clicking a 3-5 start ranking for the book.
We will provide excel sheet with links to bookpages, you just have to research the book and write a short review.
We need approx. 50-100 reviews per day per person which should take you approx. 8 hours per day."
The reviewer is given a list of sites to "research" the book. The reviewer quickly scans information ABOUT the book. The reviewer is never asked to actually READ the book. The reviewer works 8 hours per day. If you do the math, this would mean that an enitre review is researched and written in less than 9 minutes.
I know contractual agreements for reviewers is an entire industry, and that there are many phony reviews. I am just pointing out this particular site. I have to wonder if ANY of their reviews are legitimate. The ad for reviewers appeared on the website www.peopleperhour.com. This is how it reads:
"We are looking for multiple freelancers interested in writing short book reviews for us on a weekly basis. Reviews should between 80-150 words and you need to post them on our website at the corresponding bookpage, including clicking a 3-5 start ranking for the book.
We will provide excel sheet with links to bookpages, you just have to research the book and write a short review.
We need approx. 50-100 reviews per day per person which should take you approx. 8 hours per day."
2 Updates & Rebuttals
lanzones
Chicago,Illinois,
United States of America
This is a reply to User ConcernedCitizen
#2Author of original report
Thu, February 09, 2012
ConcernedCitizen,
A synopsis is not really a review. A review is not only descriptive, it is also evaluative.
Certification for book reviewing does not exist, but some would consider librarians, academics, specialists and others to come the closest to such certification. You certainly do not have to be in any of those categories to review. Anyone can easily do it. I think however, that there should be a minimum expectation of an endeavor for it to be considered acceptable.
Some of my expectations would be that the reviewer has access to the entire content of what is reviewed. A reviewer should have the ability to rate an item fair or poor, and not just good or better. A reviewer would spend more than 5-9 minutes researching the book and writing the review. The review would be signed so that the reader could assess the reviewer. A review would be dated. The reviewer follows a minimal process of inquiry, evaluation, and disclosure, and not a hasty, assembly line method.
None of these criteria seem to be followed by the company in question. The simple fact that the company does not permit a one or two star rating is misrepresentation that disqualifies them as a legitimate reviewer.
concernedcitizen
Saint Louis,Missouri,
USA
Minute Reviews
#3Consumer Comment
Wed, February 08, 2012
What constitutes a review other than being a quick synopsis of the opinion of the person who looks at the book? It's understandable that minute reviewers do not have certification as official book reviewers. A certification in minute book reviewing is unofficial certification of reading an entire book.
