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Question regarding Amazon recommendations

905 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  history_lover
I have had my kindle for about 6 months now and find most of the books I read from the amazon recommendations.  I was wondering how amazon comes up with these recommendations.  I have heard previously that it is based on similar purchase statistics vs. tags vs. reviews (and I imagine that it is likely a combination).  I was wondering if anyone else had any better insight.

This topic may have been discussed previously and feel free to direct me to a prior thread if this is a repeat topic, but I was just curious about the process.  Thanks in advance for any info.

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http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=13316081

How Recommendations Work
Are my recommendations saved so I can look at them again later?
No. Your recommendations will change regularly based on a number of factors, includingwhen you purchase or rate a new item, as well as changesin the interests of other customers like you. Because your recommendations will fluctuate, we suggest you add items that interest you to your Wish List or Shopping Cart. We wouldn't want you to miss something you might enjoy!

Why was a particular item recommended for me?
You'll notice "Why?" and "Why was I recommended this?" links next to recommended items on most product home pages. Click these links for a chance to rate or exclude the specific purchases and ratings we used to make a recommendation and therefore influence future recommendations that we make.

How do I turn off recommendations?
Simply click the link on our home page that says "If you're not (your name), click here." Then, leave the e-mail and password spaces blank and click the "Amazon.com" tab. This will remove our recommendations for you until you sign in again.

Can I delete items from my "Items You Own" list?
You may delete any items that you've told us you own. On the "Items you own" list, you should see the following sentence next to these items: "Already own this item (delete)." Click the word "delete" to remove the item from your list.

It's not currently possible to delete items you have purchased on Amazon.com. However, you can prevent these items from affecting your recommendations--just uncheck the box next to "Use to make recommendations."

Improving Your Recommendations
How can I get recommendations that are better suited to my tastes?
First, tell us more about what you like by visiting the Improve Your Recommendations area. If you are a new customer, help us get to know you by going through our Recommendations Wizard.

Also, if you're unsure why we are recommending a particular item, click the link labeled "Why was I recommended this?" which appears beneath each item when you view Your Recommendations. We'll tell you which of your previous ratings or purchases influenced our suggestion, so you can then revise your ratings or exclude those purchases if necessary.

How do I exclude gift purchases--or any other purchase I've made--from being used to recommend items to me?
There are two ways to exclude an item you've purchased or rated from being used in making recommendations for you:

Click the "Improve Your Recommendations" link below the tabs in the Recommended for You area. Locate the items you wish to exclude in the list of "Items I own," and check the "This was a gift" or the "Don't use for recommendations" option
From the "Why was I recommended this" list, check the "This was a gift" or the "Don't use for recommendations" option for those recommendation reasons you wish to exclude from being used to make future recommendations.
"Most customers aren't aware that the personalized book recommendations they receive are a result of paid promotions, not just purchase-derived data."

http://www.bostonreview.net/BR35.6/roychoudhuri.php
It seems to me every book in my recommendation list does not have lending or text to speech enabled.  What is up with that?
I didn't see any actual basis for claiming that recommendations are based on paid promotions.  I've not heard that before, and find it hard to believe that the money-grubbing publishers are willing to pay for something like that.
Well, since I bought a couple of books, human relations type stuff I keep getting recommendations for business type books, how to market my (nonexistent) company, suck up to the boss, etc. I'm not a middle management type who's trying to climb the ladder.

I've removed those books from my recommendations, but I still get those types of books showing up. It's like AZ has me pegged as some CEO wannabe. 
CrystalStarr said:
It seems to me every book in my recommendation list does not have lending or text to speech enabled. What is up with that?
The publishers choose not to enable those features.
Me and My Kindle said:
"Most customers aren't aware that the personalized book recommendations they receive are a result of paid promotions, not just purchase-derived data."

http://www.bostonreview.net/BR35.6/roychoudhuri.php
Interesting article!
I always just assumed there were little Amazon gnomes that sneak into your home, take inventory of your movies, games, books, etc. and then offer up stuff that you may like.  I've seen stuff come across my recommendations lists that I've been surprised to see (and ultimately have been interested in) since I never shopped for them on Amazon.

Now, I learn that it all may be partly coincidence thanks to paid advertising...  My day has been ruined.  I...don't know what to think anymore.
history_lover said:
The publishers choose not to enable those features.
Well of course I know that. What I want to know is why my recommendations center around those books that don't have those features enabled. I RARELY buy books without at least one of those features. Which means I tend to stay away from publishers who choose not the enable these features.

Yet nearly ALL of my recommended books to not contain these features.
CrystalStarr said:
Well of course I know that. What I want to know is why my recommendations center around those books that don't have those features enabled.
I doubt it's deliberate. Particularly with lending, it's just that all the major publishers opted out of the feature so the majority of books won't have it enabled - naturally that means most of the recommendations won't have it enabled. As for TTS, plenty of my recommendations have it enabled - maybe you're just unlucky?
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