Discussion: Amazon bought Goodreads

 

So news has been popping up all over that Amazon have purchased Goodreads for an undisclosed amount. Within minutes, threads started popping up all over Goodreads asking what this meant for users and lots of people have been leaving the site and deleting their reviews.

 

A fair amount of concern comes from the fact Amazon already owns a lot of websites - they own Book Depository, IMDB, Audible, Love Film and even other big reader sites like Shelfari and 40% of Library Thing. I use Book Depository and saw pros and cons to the Amazon takeover, although the majority of the site stayed the same. I honestly don't remember any big differences with IMDB, and didn't even know they were owned by Amazon, although it does explain the new "buy from Amazon" button on almost every page.

 

It does concern me a little that Amazon will own a massive chunk of the online book networking sites and it makes me start to question why they want so many. I know they each have pros and cons, and I use Goodreads as it's the one that suits me best. However there are readers who have been switching sites to get away from Amazon's influence and now will be leaving another network.

 

Before this, Goodreads was relatively independent. There was no preference to one retailer over another, but that could well change. Amazon have been slated a lot for censorship, with negative reviews rarely making it onto the site and reviews being deleted. I've not heard the same said about Goodreads before and so people now are predicting the same problems.

 

A lot of users are also very annoyed given that last year Goodreads stopped using Amazon data for the book catalogue and caused chaos in the process. I lost a bunch of books that were no longer recognized purely because the announcement came when I was away visiting family and had no internet. By the time I got home they were gone and replaced with "Unknown Book #..." I still haven't finished fixing that so I'm more than a little frustrated.

 

Some librarians (myself included) are reconsidering our position. Working for free for Goodreads to help improve the catalogue is one thing, working for Amazon for free is another. I'll be staying a librarian for a while, purely because I am a selfish librarian - I became one purely so I could adjust my own books to be accurate as UK editions are spotty and I hated constantly asking for help.

 

In some ways, this could be a good thing - Amazon's influence could lend itself to finally getting some of the major bugs worked out, particularly in the "recommendations" which haven't worked properly since they were introduced. It may also help with developing the catalogue to show more non-US editions.

 

Linking Goodreads and Amazon accounts could also be handy - purchasing a book and being able to add it to your TBR with a single click would be awesome. However I'm not sure I want my accounts fully linked (I like to keep social networking and shopping separate) and I don't want every book I buy added to Goodreads.

 

Essentially my concerns could all be answered through the following questions:

• Will I be required to integrate my Amazon and Goodreads accounts?
• How will this affect international users? I have both UK and US Amazon accounts.
• How will this affect me as a librarian?
• How will this affect me as a non e-book reader?
   

Will I be leaving Goodreads? I'm not sure. Until I know how this will affect me personally, I'm not making a decision especially as I can see potential pros and cons. I'm frustrated that Goodreads aren't being clear about what this will mean for users, and when they are talking they use phrases like "certainly will probably" (I wish I was kidding about that one) which leads me to worry more.

 

So do you use Goodreads and what do you think of the takeover?