Why Amazon’s recommendation system is a disaster

An article in The New York Times, “Amazon’s open secret” about how the company’s product recommendations and reviews are increasingly riddled with lies and opinion-buying mafias, brings to mind my recent experience with a particular transaction I think exemplifies the company’s problems very well.

Pictured here is my review of a company that sells seeds. I was curious about trying to grow some particular species of a South African tea, so I located a seller on Amazon and ordered them. After trying to germinate the seeds, at the right time of the year and with just the right growing conditions (I’m a biologist by training and have reasonably green fingers), I found that of the 20 seeds sent to me, only one sprouted, producing a seedling so weak that the poor thing survived just a few days. Obviously, the seeds had not been stored properly. So I did the logical thing: I went back to Amazon, to the seller’s page, and wrote a short review: a single star, and a short message: “Just one seed germinated, and died right away. Lousy quality.”

Two days later, I receive the message from Amazon shown here (in Spanish): my review cannot be published, because it does not meet the company’s guidelines. I don’t know if the reason is because the review is “not focused on specific product features” (what feature is more specific to seeds than the fact…