Blogs and Twitter are
abuzz with
#amazonfail, the
hashtag coined after several books were removed from the ranking system on Amazon.com. The books, largely with homosexual themes, included
Brokeback Mountain,
Ellen DeGeneres: A Biography, and
Heather Has Two Mommies. It seems ranks have now returned to some titles, but some
blogs are
keeping track of those that were affected.
Mark Probst, the author of gay romance book
The Filly, first noticed that his book was de-ranked and contacted Amazon. After receiving a response saying it was due to a policy where "adult" materials were not included in rankings, he
blogged about it. But when consumers pointed out that some heterosexual "adult" materials were still included in rankings, Amazon said the original de-ranking was due to a
glitch.
The news has quickly spread through
social media like Twitter, and some groups are urging a
boycott of the retailer. Amazon does not have a press release up on its Web site and representatives from the online retailer and its PR agency OutCast Communications have not yet returned
PRWeek's calls for comment.
UPDATE: Patty Smith, director of corporate communications for Amazon, replied to
PRWeek with a statemtn via email, saying "This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection."
