It's getting so you can just about set your watch by the appearance of Amazon critics. One minute it's stock analysts, the next it's book publishers, then unions, former employees and today, the music industry. If only it were so easy to reel off a list of the topics these folks are all worked up about.
The biggest item this week has to be the company's announcement that it will begin charging publishers to recommend specific titles in promotional e-mails. In a story the Wall Street Journal broke Wednesday, Nick Wingfield and Matthew Rose ran through the usual objections from publishers and small bookstores, quoting Laurence Kirshbaum, chief executive of Time Warner Trade Publishing, as saying, "If you don't distinguish between editorial and advertorial, you could lose credibility." Several outlets noted that publishers have paid brick-and-mortar bookstores for prime placement for years, though some wondered whether Amazon customers will be able to clearly distinguish which recommendations are paid and which come from actual recognition of a particular book's merit.
Discussion also brewed about Amazon's plan to transform its much-litigated 1-Click technology into a service that will allow Net surfers to "tip" their favorite sites with small amounts of cash. (Naturally, Amazon will skim just a bit off the top for its services.) Predictably, the plan drew cacophonous derision from a multitude of sources. The San Jose Mercury News noted that some critics call the plan "decidedly odd," while Keith Regan of the E-Commerce Times admitted it's an "inspired" business move, though he suspects the system will eventually be used to collect fees for "just about everything that is currently, and historically, free." Perhaps the most stringent criticism came from Margee Fagelson, a columnist for MusicDish, who argued that what has been touted as a "virtual tip jar" is in reality a devious system that will end up "undermining ... our whole work-compensation models and ideologies."
And just as Amazon got a tiny piece of almost-positive press for giving laid-off workers a few more months to decide whether they'll sign the company's separation agreement, ZDNet published a piece on a new one-man play called 21 Dog Years, which is based on a former Amazon employee's two years with the company. Between writer/actor Mike Daisey's assessment of his work there as a "bizarre anthropological experience" bordering on the cult-like and Amazon critic Ravi Suria's scathing review this week of the company's financial state, we wouldn't be surprised if CEO Jeff Bezos spent the weekend in bed with the covers over his head.
Publishers Will Pay Amazon.com for Book Reviews
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
New Charge to Publishers Part of Amazon's Revenue Hunt
San Jose Mercury News
Amazon to Charge Publishers To Promote Books by E-Mail
Wall Street Journal
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Amazon Gives Cut Workers More Time to Sign
CNET
Amazon Warrior Predicts Credit Squeeze
ZDNet
How Does the New Amazon Honor System Measure Up?
Music Dish E-Journal
Infiltrating the Cult of Amazon: Ex-Employee Spills the Beans
ZDNet
Nowhere To Hide from Amazon's Reach
E-Commerce Times
