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I'm curious why you think it looks like an ad? You should also consider that the average Amazon user is not the average HN user. Even if it was a paid ad, any

I'm curious why you think it looks like an ad? You should also consider that the average Amazon user is not the average HN user. Even if it was a paid ad, any sort of endorsement from Amazon would certainly "fool" all the middle aged parents out there who can't be arsed to do extensive research on third party reviews.

luckylion 7y ago
> I'm curious why you think it looks like an ad? I've had that impression as well. It's not anything particular about the look for me, but that I expect any highlighting / positioning on Amazon to be paid for.
defertoreptar 7y ago
I thought it was an ad too, and would devalue those items compared to others because of that pretense. Why? Because it's a similar pattern that we see on other websites: the "sponsored" content gets the top spots. The real content comes directly after.
toomuchequate 7y ago
> Even if it was a paid ad, any sort of endorsement from Amazon would certainly "fool" all the middle aged parents out there who can't be arsed to do extensive research on third party reviews. What is surprising that educated people are more aware of marketing/advertising/capitalism? I only had to see some fake business accounts for large companies(Aldi) acting like real users to put my on high alert for anything on the Internet.
freeone3000 7y ago
It's an item being explicitly promoted by the store I'm at - if that's not an advertisement, I don't know what is.
TeMPOraL 7y ago
Anything a store promotes is an ad. In the very rare cases of mom&pop stores, it could even be because the product is good. In a typical case, it's because the store needs to cycle inventory, the product is bad and therefore doesn't sell well, or the supplier paid for it. A rule of thumb for urban shopping is to always ignore "helpful" store recommendations, especially unsolicited ones. They have little interest in doing right by you, and every reason to trick you into a purchase that's better for them and worse for you.
- solarkraft 7y ago
  There is the rare case of a store posting honest reviews (I'm thinking of DigitalRev TV), to 1) Demonstrate trustworthiness 2) Make sure you think of them when making your decision, increasing the chance you'll buy something from them.
_jal 7y ago
Generally: promotion has value. Specifically: Amazon aggressively sells everything else. Why would they not sell promotional placement?
- Kalium 7y ago
  Amazon is typically quite clear about what's a purchased advertisement and what isn't.
- nostrebored 7y ago
  Because listing something as Amazon's Choice that isn't actually an estimate of what is best for the customer violates a large swathe of Amazon's leadership principles

luckylion 7y ago

> I'm curious why you think it looks like an ad? I've had that impression as well. It's not anything particular about the look for me, but that I expect any highlighting / positioning on Amazon to be paid for.

defertoreptar 7y ago

I thought it was an ad too, and would devalue those items compared to others because of that pretense. Why? Because it's a similar pattern that we see on other websites: the "sponsored" content gets the top spots. The real content comes directly after.

toomuchequate 7y ago

> Even if it was a paid ad, any sort of endorsement from Amazon would certainly "fool" all the middle aged parents out there who can't be arsed to do extensive research on third party reviews. What is surprising that educated people are more aware of marketing/advertising/capitalism? I only had to see some fake business accounts for large companies(Aldi) acting like real users to put my on high alert for anything on the Internet.

freeone3000 7y ago

It's an item being explicitly promoted by the store I'm at - if that's not an advertisement, I don't know what is.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

Anything a store promotes is an ad. In the very rare cases of mom&pop stores, it could even be because the product is good. In a typical case, it's because the store needs to cycle inventory, the product is bad and therefore doesn't sell well, or the supplier paid for it. A rule of thumb for urban shopping is to always ignore "helpful" store recommendations, especially unsolicited ones. They have little interest in doing right by you, and every reason to trick you into a purchase that's better for them and worse for you.

solarkraft 7y ago
There is the rare case of a store posting honest reviews (I'm thinking of DigitalRev TV), to 1) Demonstrate trustworthiness 2) Make sure you think of them when making your decision, increasing the chance you'll buy something from them.

_jal 7y ago

Generally: promotion has value. Specifically: Amazon aggressively sells everything else. Why would they not sell promotional placement?

Kalium 7y ago
Amazon is typically quite clear about what's a purchased advertisement and what isn't.
nostrebored 7y ago
Because listing something as Amazon's Choice that isn't actually an estimate of what is best for the customer violates a large swathe of Amazon's leadership principles