Amazonfail: Discriminatory Policy or Glitch?

Amazon has enraged the Twitterverse. In response to what authors and others believe is a new policy by Amazon to remove “adult” titles from its sales ranking, petitions, protests, and googlebombing are reaching online mob proportions, primarily decrying the delisting of titles of gay and lesbian titles; it appears that LGBT titles are being singled out (even some with no sexual content), while other “adult” content is unaffected.

According to PW, the director of the Erotic Authors Association, Erastes, said a number of their members “noticed their titles had been stripped of their sales rankings” on Amazon, which affects both sales and search results. One member, Mark Probst, contacted an Amazon customer service representative, later recounting on his blog that the rep told him that “‘adult’ material” is being excluded from appearing in “some searches and best seller lists” as a “consideration of our entire customer base.”

In response to queries, an Amazon spokesperson stated that a glitch had occurred in its sales ranking feature that was in the process of being fixed, adding that there was no new adult policy.