Bookbub titles being removed from Amazon?

It seems that some books which use Bookbub's promotion system are now at risk of being banned on Amazon. It is being discussed in several places.

Amazon’s Hall of Spinning Knives
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?332496-Amazon-Bo0okbub-major-issues&p=10283715#post10283715

Effectively, titles which purchased promos are being removed from the ranking system for purchases from bot accounts.

People are saying there are two reasons:
1) That Amazon is removing books which suddenly jump in rank
2) That it is malicious action by third parties.

Any thoughts?

 

No chance they were using the cash they get for subs to buy books & screw the algo, then?

 

Maybe Amazon just wants to make more money. Author's pay to enter into Amazon's Vine Voice program to have buyers take a book for review. Amazon also makes money off of sponsored ads. It wouldn't be the first time the company used ruthless business practices.

 

Part of the problem is that if the same accounts buy books regularly through a site, it looks like the site is buying them themselves to push the rankings up. I'm not sure why bookangel's never been hit. Perhaps the fact the site is an actual partner rather than just using the Amazon listings and lists a few more books of more types than most promo sites - and has its own Amazon account to buy and review its copies through.

That's for sure. Back when VHF was writing, they took preorders for his book, then tried to charge the small press publisher a monthly fee to actually fulfil them...unless the publisher was willing to drop their distributor and go Amazon exclusive (spoiler: they weren't).

The publisher is still not allowed to list Fire Season on Amazon themselves, and the book's blocked from being listed 'New' even after its second printing.

 

I wonder if NetGalley across the pond is experiencing the same hassle. As far as I know, authors go through them for reviews too. The reviews land on both Amazon and Goodreads (also owned by Amazon).

 

Ellie Jane, NetGalley is a platform for publishers to connect with reviewers, be it bloggers, librarians, booksellers, etc. The publisher provides a digital ARC to the reader. Often, once the book is available for sale, it's not available on NetGalley anymore.

BookBub does email blasts, if I'm remembering correctly. There was one I signed up for that constantly sent me emails. It was ridiculous.

 

As far as I know, NetGalley might not be hit because the books are sent out through them so they don't show as verified purchases on Amazon. I guess that means they aren't screwing with the algorhythm. It sounds like Bookbub & Amazon have both refused to help out the authors caught by it .