I too am a Vine reviewer (IT guy mostly) who takes the Vine review process very seriously. For hyperspecialized books that are costly, and that have limited audience size, this is an opportunity for the producer/writer to gain some exposure. Whether the review is of high quality, or well-informed, or helpful all depends. It's crowd-curated, like forums elsewhere. I actively rate other reviews for that reason - mainly the well-written, thoughtful ones -- positive or negative.
I am dubious about the claims made here and elsewhere about pay-to-review, SEO and other self-serving back door review processes. It probably happens some of the time, but overall I find the reviews one of the standout features of Amazon overall -- taking into account the non-Vine reviews as well. Sure, consumers may read the Amazon reviews and buy elsewhere on price, but even if only 20% of the reviews were valuable, it would be foolish to spend money without at least skimming them.
I think it's a new genre of criticism, doing quick-hit, but thoughtful reviews without an editor. Its value is limited, but there is value.
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I too am a Vine reviewer (IT guy mostly) who takes the Vine review process very seriously. For hyperspecialized books that are costly, and that have limited audience size, this is an opportunity for the producer/writer to gain some exposure. Whether the review is of high quality, or well-informed, or helpful all depends. It's crowd-curated, like forums elsewhere. I actively rate other reviews for that reason - mainly the well-written, thoughtful ones -- positive or negative. I am dubious about the claims made here and elsewhere about pay-to-review, SEO and other self-serving back door review processes. It probably happens some of the time, but overall I find the reviews one of the standout features of Amazon overall -- taking into account the non-Vine reviews as well. Sure, consumers may read the Amazon reviews and buy elsewhere on price, but even if only 20% of the reviews were valuable, it would be foolish to spend money without at least skimming them. I think it's a new genre of criticism, doing quick-hit, but thoughtful reviews without an editor. Its value is limited, but there is value.