Well, well...look at the email I got from "Amazon Review Moderation"

5:46 pm 12 October 2013

After finding this little gem of an area on GR (I like that GR is like Grrrrr, which is how I feel lately):  

 

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/33825-how-to-promote-your-book-on-amazon

 

I tried sending Amazon a customer feedback comment.  Doesn't look like the typical computer generated 'first answer' form.  Or, their mail bots are better at generating answers.  The page on GR is still there, but I'm not going to take the time to comb through and see if there are any real steps (ie swapped review deletions)...but it was a step above what I expected.

 

Maybe Amazon still remembers it wants some semblance of clean, non-pandering reviews.  I have a relatively high ranked Amazon account (though I only do about 10% books) so I do see a lot of crap that goes on.  However, the few times I've had a seller bugging me they backed off quickly if I sent an email to Amazon.

 

The email, with a few identifiers and links removed:

 

   
Message From Customer Service
Hello, 

Thank you for letting us know about the review swapping by authors on Amazon and Goodreads. We'll investigate the reviews on this and take the appropriate action. 

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about this. 

We hope to see you again soon.

Best regards,
Luciana S
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Original Message
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10/09/13 20:04:08 
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Other info:website advertising 'authors' swapping reviews and sales 
Comments:I was poking around Goodreads and noticed a group of 'authors' who are swapping reviews (and now apparently sales via a 'service').  

Seeing as Amazon now owns Goodreads it is pretty appalling to see the active circumvention of the so-called 'honest review process, particularly as said reviews are to be posted on Amazon itself.