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#amazonfail

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  Amazon.com erroneously de-ranked a number of books on the basis of "adult content"
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Amazon.com de-ranked a number of books over the weekend on the basis of “adult content.” According to the Amazon Dictionary, this definition includes books that have anything to do with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) characters, authors, issues, or references. In addition to de-ranking these titles, they have also been hidden from search results.

A number of concerned users have written letters to Amazon and their customer service staff as a result of this change. See the external links below for sources of these complaints.

Amazon's team sent this message to one concerned user: 

In consideration of our entire customer base, we exclude "adult" material from appearing in some searches and best seller lists. Since these lists are generated using sales ranks, adult materials must also be excluded from that feature.
 
Hence, if you have further questions, kindly write back to us.

Best regards,
Ashlyn D
Member Services
Amazon.com Advantage

In response to #amazonfail, a statement was released from an Amazon spokesperson to Publishers Weekly, stating that the removal from search results and de-ranking of certain #LGBT content was due to a computer glitch. The Publishers Weekly website was crippled on Sunday evening as a result of the amount of traffic trying to see the article.

On Monday, April 13, Silicon Alley Insider picked up on a statement from Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener released to SeattlePI.com saying all LGBT-themed books will return to Amazon bestseller lists.

Amazon's statement went on: 

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles – in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

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