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It's obvious astroturfing. The top two posts with the most upvotes are "Ebay is just as bad" for the startoff line, and "Everybody's just as bad as Amazon. Wh

by araes 3y ago

It's obvious astroturfing. The top two posts with the most upvotes are "Ebay is just as bad" for the startoff line, and "Everybody's just as bad as Amazon. Why are you being so mean and cruel to Amazon?" Obvious astroturfing, just like the entire Amazon review ecosystem. Surprise? No. https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/ https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/ Bezos' wealth relative to "normal" shown as 1-pixel comparisons. Be careful once you get to the $Trillion portion (you'll be scrolling for the rest of your life.)

bbor 3y ago
I LOVE that link, but I think serious accusations like that need better justification/explanation. Are you saying that Amazon is buying upvotes for comments they like, or that that comment was written by a shill? The former is very possible but hard to prove either way, but the latter seems really unreasonable. In this example, it's a poster that's been here since 2017, talking about things like startup culture, Covid-19, and investment banking. They even say they're ex-AWS in their HN bio, which would be a very unconventional move for an Amazon-corporate-operated fake account.
- danielmarkbruce 3y ago
  Almost every claim of astroturfing is from someone who doesn't understand the basic argument opposing their position.
  - marcod 3y ago
    Unless it's Amazon reviews, where almost every glowing 5 star review is paid for.
    - therealdrag0 3y ago
      Based on what? You’ve never given a 5 star review? I sure have and I’m sure many many other people have too.
cm2012 3y ago
I think this lawsuit is dumb and anti-consumer. I've also been active on HN since 2008. Not astroturfing :)
- marcod 3y ago
  I still don't get how for me as a consumer it's bad that I see the full price and don't have to add the shipping on top only at the end of an order pipeline. Doesn't showing the total price make it much easier to compare? Aren't politicians pushing on other service industries (airlines, ticket sales) to do just that with all their stupid hidden fees?
yetanotherasian 3y ago
It's not astroturf. It's pointing out you've been living with this stuff for years, Amazon isn't new and special. If you want the problem solved then it shouldn't be about Amazon, it should be about entire process. If Amazon can't sell an "Amazon Brand" that competes with other sellers on it's site, the Trader Joe's should not be able to sell wine that competes with the other branded wine in it's own stores. Nor should Target be able to see it's Good Stuff brand (or whatever it is) that directly competes with other things it stocks. Similarly, if Amazon is going to be barred from having people pay to be the top of search results than Safeway should be barred from having companies pay to have their items placed on the end shelves. This shouldn't be about just Amazon.
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  There’s no “entire process” you can target. You going to pass a law on how every company can raise prices? Impossible No, the actual way is to go company by company and dismantle them. And by Starting with the biggest it sends a message to others that perhaps they should change before they too get broken up. So by killing a few prominent hostages the system ends up changing “on its own.”
  - tekknik 3y ago
    > No, the actual way is to go company by company and dismantle them. And by Starting with the biggest it sends a message to others that perhaps they should change before they too get broken up. You will never finish if you go company by company, there’s just too many. Additionally no company ever stops anything until forced to. Your suggestions will not solve anything.
    - zelphirkalt 3y ago
      If they are all so interchangable, then I guess no one should care too much about them being split up either. Just need a high enough frequency of splitting to keep the market sane.
      - 3y ago
unmole 3y ago
> It's obvious astroturfing. Are you really suggesting that Amazon is paying people to post comments on HN of all places? That sounds utterly deranged.
- yterdy 3y ago
  Found one.

by araes 3y ago

bbor 3y ago

I LOVE that link, but I think serious accusations like that need better justification/explanation. Are you saying that Amazon is buying upvotes for comments they like, or that that comment was written by a shill? The former is very possible but hard to prove either way, but the latter seems really unreasonable. In this example, it's a poster that's been here since 2017, talking about things like startup culture, Covid-19, and investment banking. They even say they're ex-AWS in their HN bio, which would be a very unconventional move for an Amazon-corporate-operated fake account.

danielmarkbruce 3y ago
Almost every claim of astroturfing is from someone who doesn't understand the basic argument opposing their position.
- marcod 3y ago
  Unless it's Amazon reviews, where almost every glowing 5 star review is paid for.
  - therealdrag0 3y ago
    Based on what? You’ve never given a 5 star review? I sure have and I’m sure many many other people have too.

cm2012 3y ago

I think this lawsuit is dumb and anti-consumer. I've also been active on HN since 2008. Not astroturfing :)

marcod 3y ago
I still don't get how for me as a consumer it's bad that I see the full price and don't have to add the shipping on top only at the end of an order pipeline. Doesn't showing the total price make it much easier to compare? Aren't politicians pushing on other service industries (airlines, ticket sales) to do just that with all their stupid hidden fees?

yetanotherasian 3y ago

It's not astroturf. It's pointing out you've been living with this stuff for years, Amazon isn't new and special. If you want the problem solved then it shouldn't be about Amazon, it should be about entire process. If Amazon can't sell an "Amazon Brand" that competes with other sellers on it's site, the Trader Joe's should not be able to sell wine that competes with the other branded wine in it's own stores. Nor should Target be able to see it's Good Stuff brand (or whatever it is) that directly competes with other things it stocks. Similarly, if Amazon is going to be barred from having people pay to be the top of search results than Safeway should be barred from having companies pay to have their items placed on the end shelves. This shouldn't be about just Amazon.

AndrewKemendo 3y ago
There’s no “entire process” you can target. You going to pass a law on how every company can raise prices? Impossible No, the actual way is to go company by company and dismantle them. And by Starting with the biggest it sends a message to others that perhaps they should change before they too get broken up. So by killing a few prominent hostages the system ends up changing “on its own.”
- tekknik 3y ago
  > No, the actual way is to go company by company and dismantle them. And by Starting with the biggest it sends a message to others that perhaps they should change before they too get broken up. You will never finish if you go company by company, there’s just too many. Additionally no company ever stops anything until forced to. Your suggestions will not solve anything.
  - zelphirkalt 3y ago
    If they are all so interchangable, then I guess no one should care too much about them being split up either. Just need a high enough frequency of splitting to keep the market sane.
    - 3y ago

unmole 3y ago

> It's obvious astroturfing. Are you really suggesting that Amazon is paying people to post comments on HN of all places? That sounds utterly deranged.

yterdy 3y ago
Found one.