Amazon apparently has been deleting suspicious reviews of What Happened


Hillary Clinton's detractors just can't quit her — in addition to tweeting about her, bashing her on various internet forums, and calling her crooked every chance they get, they have now descended on Amazon, leaving one-star reviews of her new book, What Happened.
Clinton's tome about the election came out Sept. 12, and was an instant bestseller. Quartz reports that shortly before noon eastern time on Thursday, there were 1,669 reviews of the book on Amazon, with 50 percent one-star and 45 percent five-star. Most of the one-star reviews were left by unverified purchasers, meaning if they did buy the book it wasn't from Amazon; their comments were along the lines of "You lost. Get over it." By 3 p.m., it appeared Amazon had deleted more than 900 reviews; the company wouldn't confirm or deny this with Quartz, but did say the company has "mechanisms in place to ensure that the voices of many do not drown out the voices of a few and we remove customer reviews that violate our Community Guidelines."
It's not unusual for people to leave bad reviews about products they've never used, for whatever reason, and of course reviewers could have bought the book elsewhere and then posted on Amazon, but there were tons of red flags for What Happened, ReviewMeta owner Tommy Noonan told Quartz. First, there were more than 1,000 reviews from unverified customers, and after looking at their histories, many had never written a verified review.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Now that it looks like Amazon is going to crack down on fake What Happened reviews, it's time for the anti-Hillary brigade to come up with new ways to pass the time — there's always learning how to say "Lock her up!" in multiple languages, rearranging your Make America Great Again hat collection, and finally taking that PhotoShop class to improve those meme-making skills.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
5 bunker-busting cartoons about the Israel-Iran war
Cartoons Political cartoonists take on Iran waiting for Pete Hegseth to leak war plans and Donald Trump's wish for a Nobel prize
-
Malaysia's delicious food and glorious beaches
The Week Recommends From 'colourful' George Town to the 'jungled interior' of Langkawi, Malaysia is incredibly diverse
-
Is the US sliding into autocracy?
Talking Point Donald Trump's use of federal troops on home ground, dismissal of dissent and 'braggadocious' military posturing are all symptoms of a shifting political culture
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliable
speed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutiny
Speed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
-
Starbucks baristas strike over dress code
speed read The new uniform 'puts the burden on baristas' to buy new clothes, said a Starbucks Workers United union delegate
-
Warren Buffet announces surprise retirement
speed read At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, the billionaire investor named Vice Chairman Greg Abel his replacement
-
Trump calls Amazon's Bezos over tariff display
Speed Read The president was not happy with reports that Amazon would list the added cost from tariffs alongside product prices
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loom
Speed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panels
Speed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores