The Review Wars on Amazon – Stream of Consciousness

An enormous nuclear bomb explosion in the dessert featuring a huge mushroom cloud.
War on Amazon.com. Hydrogen bomb test by Alones Shutterstock Asset id: 2194195335.

Today is the second time I participate in Linda Hill’s streams of consciousness. To read about the rules and participate click here. Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “review.” The first thing that came to my mind was the review wars on Amazon.

The badge features a twig with rain drops and it says Stream of consciousness Saturday #SoCS
2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley!

I’ve written several hundred reviews on Amazon, for software, computers, electronics, consumer products, movies and books. I was an Amazon Vine Voice for many years. Amazon Vine Voice is a program where Amazon reviewers receive free products from vendors in exchange for unbiased reviews. You must be invited by Amazon. However, as I was offered fewer expensive items, I got annoyed and I quit. My thinking was basically, if I don’t get a free TV or computer, I am not writing any reviews. I kind of regret that now. Free products are still free products.

There were and still are a lot of shady reviews and shady reviewer behavior on Amazon. This sometimes led to fights. I remember one prominent reviewer, Harriet Klausner. She was the #1 ranked reviewer on Amazon.com for many years and she held the #1 spot in the Amazon reviewer hall of fame at the time of her death. If you spent any significant time on Amazon as a reviewer, you know who Harriet Klausner is. I did a quick search for her as I was writing this, and I found the Wikipedia link for Harriet Klausner.

Harriet Klausner wrote 30,000+ book reviews in a relatively short time. I counted 20,000 reviews in just a few years. She loved every book and every book was intriguing to her. Almost every book was five stars. Then some people started accusing her of not really reading that many books, or for being biased. I admit I also had my doubts that someone could read thousands of books per year. Some people came to her defense while others claimed she was a fake. We may never know the truth, but the negativity spread.

People started accusing each other of faking reviews and fights broke out. Reviewer gangs were formed. They went around clicking the unhelpful button on other people’s reviews. One reviewer could get 3 helpful clicks the day after he published a review and then get 1,000 unhelpful clicks the day after. This affected the reviewer’s standing in the ranks. People were trying to improve their rankings, which back then were published next to the reviewers name, and fights broke out over the ranks. Amazon mostly put a stop to this by changing how the rank was calculated, hiding the reviewer rank well, and eventually removing the unhelpful button, as it was so widely misused.

Atomic bomb explosion in a city - nuclear attack on a crowded city – 3D rendering of a mushroom cloud encompassing a city with skyscrapers.
I happened to have a few exploding nuclear bomb pictures handy. I think that illustrates what was happening on Amazon. Shutterstock, asset id: 2188083835 by CI Photos.

Reviewer rank was a major cause for the Review Wars but the actions that Amazon took greatly improved the situation. However, there is still some really shady stuff happening on Amazon. For example, people writing negative reviews for books they have not read. In this case it is not reviewer rank that is the cause. People slam books they have not read because they don’t like the author, or they don’t like the topic. Sometimes, inauthentic reviewers can slam a book just because it is written by an independent author.

Topics like evolution, climate science, vaccines, religion and politics, offend some people and attract dishonest reviewers. Even a simple fact that is widely accepted by experts/scientists in the field can enrage some people. For that reason, books on these topics can get a lot of negative reviews from people who never bought the book, or if they did, they never gave the book a chance. This is often obvious to those among us who actually read the book.

Another related phenomenon are commentors who attack or argue with reviewers who have left a positive review for a book. This happened to me. I wrote a five star review for a climate science book I really liked, and this guy started leaving comments on my review in which he attacked the book and the author. He did not attack me, not directly, but he said disparaging things about the author. What was behind all this was that the author had sued a couple of people for one million dollars for defamation and people associated with the defendants attacked the author and the people who wrote positive reviews for the book (using fake names of course). Reading a bit about what was going on I found out that it was possible that I was arguing with one of the defendants, a Fox News host by the name of Mark Steyn.

Note: The author of the book in question won the one million dollar lawsuit in 2024 but the amount was reduced by a judge in 2025. I can add I ended up sitting next to Mark Steyn on a flight from Marseille to London. I was going to ask him if he had paid the one million dollars, but I said nothing. I moved next to my wife (empty seat) and another Fox News anchor took my seat.

Russian Tsar Bomba mushroom cloud rising high above the clouds. High quality photo realist ( 3d make ).
Amazon is still being bombed by hostile fake reviews and argumentative people. This is an illustration of the Tsar Bomba explosion by mbafai Shutterstock Asset id: 2208486661.

Naturträne a Dark Punk-Opera Life Review

Speaking about reviews, a piece of music that popped up in my head as I was writing this post is Naturträne (Nature’s Tear) a German PunkOpera song by Nina Hagen. Naturträne describes a woman who appears to be distraught over natural degradation (rattling exhaust pipes / Auspuffrohre knattern) and a lost love and her crushed soul. My high school German is rusty. You can say it is a very poetic but dark review of her life. For those who don’t know who Nina Hagen is, she is a former East German Opera singer, actress and musical artist who sings in the Punk-Opera genre and is known for her theatrical style.

She was able to make it to West Germany, and the song below was performed at Rock Palats in 1978. If you don’t know who Nina Hagen is (Europeans will know who it is) you are in for a shock. She depicts a distraught and crazy woman very well. However, it is bizarre but authentic.

Do you like Punk-Opera?

Sorry, that’s the question that popped up in my head right now.

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

49 thoughts on “The Review Wars on Amazon – Stream of Consciousness”

  1. The review thing is unbelievable, Thomas. Yikes. I’ve stopped paying attention to reviews for anything since several years now because there’s so much manipulation occurring. The turning point occurred when I was asked to leave a review for a service and saw that the ratings themselves were ridiculous – the lowest possible out of three was “unlikely to recommend” while the other two were on the stupidly high end. I wanted to give a response much lower than “unlikely to recommend” so I refused to do the review at all.

    Then I was pursued for a review over email and then finally by phone. I explained why I wouldn’t give a review and the caller proceeded to argue with me that “unlikely to recommend” was very negative. I realised I was talking to a company moron who had imbibed a lot of koolaid and hung up. So now I don’t read reviews and I don’t give them either. I do my product or services homework in other ways.

    As to your final question, I’m not a fan of either opera or punk, so putting them together would not be a good choice for me. 😉

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    1. That is an interesting story. It is terrible when people are pressured into writing positive reviews. I have not given up on reviews. I read them and I write them. Amazon is a lot better today with respect to reviews but there are still issues. Like you I don’t trust the reviews alone. I “research” in other ways too. I use consumer reports, I read what the reviews say, not just the stars, and I read the negative reviews to look for insight. Sometimes they are bunk but sometimes they may say something substantial. I think Punk-Opera is a strange genre of music but I can listen to it occassionally.

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      1. Lots of Canadians (polls say about 55%) are boycotting Amazon not only because it’s a big American company but also because Jeff Bezos is a major Trump supporter. It also sold products calling Canada the 51st state, so definitely no Amazon review importance here. 😊

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  2. Thank you, Thomas, for this eye-opening post. I noticed an abrupt change a few years ago, I think it was, in Amazon book reviews in particular. Now, I know the whole story.

    And I do know who Nina Hagen is! I remember The Nina Hagen Band…but I am probably dating myself by acknowledging that point…eh?

    Great share and wonderfully researched and written work, Thomas. Thank you.

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    1. Thank you Suzette. Yes it got bad and they had to take action. Giving people incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the rank, and the ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. Nina Hagen, ha ha, you are right, it was a while ago.

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  3. This sort of behavior in the reviews is disturbing. I’m glad you brought it to light, Thomas. I think your choice of photos go well with the topic.

    I had never heard of Nina Hagen, although I do like opera. I was drawn into the video you posted and couldn’t stop watching. I think I will listen/watch some more.

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    1. Giving people incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the rank, and the ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. People are sillier than you’d expect. I don’t trust the number of stars very much. I read the review to see what it is being said and for expensive consumer products I check with consumer reports. It is interesting about how people react to Nina Hagen, from “this is awful and bizarre” to “this is really cool”. However, she is old now and not performing anymore.

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  4. It’s hard to trust reviews on toxic subjects. Like you said, people become haters and that guides their comments.

    I don’t think Mark Steyn has ever been a Fox host, maybe a guest. He wrote a book a decade ago about population decline in many countries. It was eye opening.

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    1. Yes you are right. I don’t trust the number of stars, I read what is being said in the review before deciding whether to trust the review, especially on controversial topics. Mark Steyn has actually been a guest host (not just a guest) on Fox News several times, especially the Tucker Carlson show, and I’ve seen him several times. My guess is you are referring to America Alone. I bought that book many years ago but it was on my TBR pile and I never got around to reading it.

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  5. I always approach reviews with a grain of salt, but didn’t know how extensive these review wars were. I did like punk, a little less now, but never punk opera. Although, I do have Who Shot Bambi on my playlist. But it’s probably considered too tame by purists. 😊Maggie

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    1. Thank you Maggie. Giving people incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the Amazing rank, and the ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. People are sillier than you’d expect. However, it is better now with the rule changes. I think Punk-Opera is a unique form of music but I can enjoy it on occasion.

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  6. I apologize (sort of) for laughing out loud when I read, reviewer gangs were formed. As I read further, I could tell this is a serious matter. I’ve written a few reviews, but I have to wonder about someone who has time to write 30,000+ book reviews, not to mention reading all the books. Your reviews are always thoughtful and interesting. I do not particularly like opera, but the singer in the video did a good job of conveying the emotion, and I could imagine what she might be singing about. My daughter went through a punk stage years ago and some of it was okay for a minute. I introduced her to Christian punk and Christian heavy metal just to let her know they existed.

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    1. Ha ha, you are right JoAnna. However, giving people an incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the rank, and then ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. People are sillier than you’d expect. 30,000+ reviews is hard to believe, and it was often 5-10 books per day. (I was curious and followed a bit). The people who tried to get a good rank were mad and accused her of cheating. I knew about Christian heavy metal but not Christian punk.

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      1. When my daughter was a teenager and I was a single mom, I drove us to Charlotte to see a Christian punk band at a club I read about in an article called “Goths for Jesus.” they had a potluck and a little God talk, too. It was interesting. I sure was adventurous back then.

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  7. What a mess! 😲 While I knew there are lots of fake reviews online, I had no idea to what extent. That is deplorable and I’m glad Amazon took action. Thanks for bringing this to light, Thomas!

    Nina Hagen is known as the “Godmother of German Punk”. Her theatrical style is fun to watch, but Punk Opera’s appeal wears thin for me after a while.

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    1. Yes lesson learned. Giving people an incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the rank, and then ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. People start fighting. Who doesn’t want to have a good rank? Yes I agree about Nina Hagen, she is fun to watch but her type of music is, well different. I used to listen and watch when I was young in the 1980’s.

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  8. Gosh, I need to take a shower after reading about Amazon reviewers’ awful behavior, Thomas. I’m not totally naive, but I had no idea they traveled in packs. I also wasn’t aware of the Amazon Vine Voice program. Is that still a thing? It seems like so many people have already left reviews, I’m surprised they would feel the need to pay people to do so. When people give five stars to everything they review, it cheapens the process, just as those who seemingly rip anything they review do. The trifecta of things I didn’t know about was punk opera. It doesn’t sound like anything that I would like.

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    1. Yes giving people an incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the rank, and then the ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. People want a good rank so they start fighting. It may seem silly. Luckily Amazon caught on and changed things. I quit the Amazon Vine program once the value of the free goods fell, but it is still around. Punk-Opera is less popular now and I think it was most a German or European thing. I listened to it when I was young in the 1980’s but I have not heard it in a long time.

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    1. yes giving people an incentive to compete when writing reviews, such as with the rank, and then the ability to downgrade each other, turned out to be a bad idea. People start fighting. Like you shake a jar of ants. Luckily Amazon caught on and changed how it works.

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  11. Wow! Thanks for this information about reviewing and the reviewers and the things going on behind the curtain. That is just awful all the way around. I don’t pay much attention to reviews for books or movies or products anyway. I’d never heard of punk opera or Nina Hagen, but I kind of liked it. I don’t usually like high screeching opera (a few artists I have liked), but this artist was fun to watch. I went on and watched an interview with her on David Letterman show from I think it was from 1985, and she was so funny and I really enjoyed her take on things. I’d watch more. … and that chicken cackle at the end of her song hahahah 🙂

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    1. I think Amazon did not realize how potentially toxic displaying reviewer rank prominently would be. So many reviewers wanted to be in the top 1,000 reviewer, or top 10,000 reviewer, and some cheated by writing reviews for products they hadn’t used or writing reviews for books they had not read, just so that would rise in the ranks. Then people started accusing each other even when that was not the case. Then people started abusing the unhelpful button en masse, and you had a mess.

      It is interesting that you liked to watch Nina Hagen. I may not be that much into this kind of music but I find her entertaining. It was interesting that you went on to watch an interview with her on David Letterman show from 1985. I did not see that. I have to look for it.

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    1. Yes I guess you are right. It is childish. I think Amazon did not realize how potentially toxic displaying reviewer rank so prominently would be. So many reviewers wanted to be in the top 1,000 reviewer, or top 10,000 reviewer, and some cheated by writing reviews for products they hadn’t used or writing reviews for books they had not read, just so that would rise in the ranks. Then people started accusing each other even when that was not the case. Then people started abusing the unhelpful button en masse to lower the ranks of others, and you had a mess. The funny thing is that there was no reason to believe that Amazon Vine Reviewers were picked based on rank. They checked your reviews a bit more carefully than that.

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  14. It’s so true, the reviews on Amazon are very problematic. Some people leave negative comments on purpose as you said but some also get paid to leave positive comments which I find quite unethical. I think when it comes to comments on platforms like Amazon, you have to take it with a grain of salt.
    Also, I’d never heard of punk-opera before- that sounds like a fascinating genre.

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    1. Yes you are certainly right Pooja. Theoretically you should only leave reviews for books you have read and not misuse the comment section but people do this anyway. Then there are paid reviewers and commentors, which like you say is unethical. Luckily the reviewer ranks are so well hidden now that people seem to have stopped competing for those. I think the Punk-Opera was (is) mostly a German / European thing, which is why a lot of people don’t know about it.

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      1. Yes, I totally agree and I think getting rid of the ranking system almost completely was a good idea. Writing reviews for the sake of it isn’t helpful for anyone.
        Definitely new to me but I feel like I could really get into Punk-Opera. I don’t know, it just seems like a very cool genre.

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        1. Yes the ranking of reviewers I think was a reflection of Amazon’s very competitive side but it was a disaster. When people are cheating, fighting, and punishing each other to get higher ranks it defeats the entire purpose of what a review should be. I think it caused a lot of people to leave Amazon. Punk-Opera is a very unique and very German kind of music. It might not be my thing music wise but it is entertaining to watch and listen to.

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  15. I was not aware that reviewers were rated, that’s interesting. I help run a book group on Facebook that features a lot of YA books and consequently a lot of young adults. Let me tell you, one “problematic” word in a book will send the hoards to Amazon to leave critical reviews, to cancel the author, to cancel anyone who defends the author! It’s the opposite, but the same, for any author who espouses the current liberal stance on anything – they come out in droves to praise the author and the book to the high Heavens. I just got sucked into a book that was reviewed as a great mystery, etc. It was not. It was a diatribe about AI. Fine, write your opinion, but don’t tell me it’s something else.

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    1. In the past the reviewer rank right next your name on any review or comment you wrote. Since people were competing and fought over the ranks Amazon hid them and now it is almost impossible to find the reviewer ranks, but they are still there. About people writing dishonest reviews. It goes both ways. Many people write reviews for books they have not read just to slam, or the opposite, praise an author. In both cases it is unethical. You should not review a book you have not read.

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  16. Java Bean: “Ayyy, these roving gangs of Amazon reviewers armed with ‘Not Helpful’ buttons sounds like some kind of post-apocalyptic wasteland! Possibly populated by mutants trying to sell you cheap knockoffs of better products!”
    Lulu: “We don’t know much about punk here but our Dada likes some punk apparently. He says he loves White Lung, whoever that is. Sounds like a medical condition and probably not an opera …”

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    1. Ha ha that is right Java Bean. I just talked to someone on Facebook who said he quit Amazon for good because if this topic. I posted a link to this post on my Facebook. Mutants, atomic bombs, it’s Amazon. It is still a very hot topic. Lulu it is interesting that your Dada likes punk. I liked some of it too. It is definitely something different.

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