Amazon Cites Cataloguing Error for Ranking Fiasco  

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 4/14/2009 7:35:00 AM

More than two days after it first began experiencing problems with the ranking feature on an array of titles—mostly books with gay and lesbian themes—Amazon said last night that the problem was due to "an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloguing error.” The mistake involved 57,310 books in what Amazon said was a broad number of categories including health, mind & body, reproductive & sexual medicine and erotica. The problem affected not just the sales rank but also removed books from Amazon's main product search, the company acknowledged. The e-tailer said many books have now been fixed, adding, “We're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.”

When word began spreading over the Easter weekend that Amazon appeared to be implementing a new adult policy that de-ranked books with homosexual themes and subjects, authors and other were enraged and used Twitter to plan various protests against the company. Sunday night Amazon told PW that the problem was a glitch, an explanation that drew much skepticism. Last night’s announcement provides more clarity on the situation, but still left many wondering just how a sophisticated technology company could let something like that happen and then not respond to the criticism that erupted in a more timely and open fashion. The incident is likely to increase the industry’s concerns about Amazon’s dominant place in publishing and bookselling.