(no subject)

[telophase]

We all know that Amazon's recommendations can be quixotic, to say the least. I deplore the habit they have of sending me recommendations like "We noticed that you recently purchased Blade of the Immortal volume 9. Would you be interested in volumes 1-8?"

So myrialux was recently browsing his recommendations, and because he liked The Zombie Survival Guide and owned World War Z, Amazon recommended...





Guess the last thing we need is a bunch of uneducated zombies.

Comments

[qem_chibati]

I thought it was more to improve the food source of the zombies.

[onthehill]

Heheh. Sometimes you have to take a minute to work out 'how did that get into my recs?'

[octopedingenue]

Money, my dear.
At the heart of the soup-can analogy are the algorithms that Amazon uses to “recommend” books to customers. Most customers aren’t aware that the personalized book recommendations they receive are a result of paid promotions, not just purchase-derived data. This is frustrating for publishers who want their books to be judged on their merits. “I think their twisted algorithms that point you toward bestsellers instead of books that you might actually like [are] a shame,” Gavin Grant, cofounder of Small Beer Press, laments.

[fmanalyst.livejournal.com]

The one that bugged me was when I bought a pair of Keen shoes, and Amazon decided that I was a 30-something environmentally conscious mommy of very young children, despite no other indication in my purchasing history that I have any children or was pregnant.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I once had a subscription to Outside magazine, back when they had great writers and fantastic photographers, instead of merely acceptable, and I ended up on the outdoor-sports mailing list from hell. *twitch*

[celestriad.livejournal.com]

yeah, i've definitely gotten some strange recommendations from amazon before. can't think of any specific examples right now, though...

[wyrdness.livejournal.com]

Amazon often recommends to me the 2nd book/ manga of a series I have never even heard of before, let alone searched for via their site. Why the 2nd? It mystifies me!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

You have to EARN that first volume!

[kittikattie.livejournal.com]

I still maintain that Netflix thinks I am a gay 12 year old nerd.

[cicer.livejournal.com]

I deplore the habit they have of sending me recommendations like "We noticed that you recently purchased Blade of the Immortal volume 9. Would you be interested in volumes 1-8?"

Ohhh yes. I've gotten that one before! Drives me nuts. "Wait, wait, you mean I should read the first eight volumes of the series before reading the ninth?! Holy shit! So that's what I've been doing wrong!"

*facepalm*

[viridian5.livejournal.com]

Somehow I doubt whether anyone will care about your GED results during the zombie apocalypse.

[rurounitriv.livejournal.com]

Well of course they recommended it. Brains taste better when they're exercised. You wouldn't want the zombies to decide that your brain wasn't tasty enough, would you?

[tygerr.livejournal.com]

He's clearly wanting more BRAAAAAIIIINNNNNNSSS! The GED is just a more socially-acceptable method to get them. So it makes perfect sense, really.