Friday, January 12, 2007

Bulk advertising or practical joke?

I subscribe to Amazon.com suggestions. It's an easy way to find music of similar tastes. This was fine until now. Something very strange happened. My latest recommendation was:

We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in Live at Budokan by S.O.D. have also ordered Create the Health, Vitality and Energy You Deserve: Energy for Life by Anthony Robbins. For this reason, you might like to know that Anthony Robbins's Create the Health, Vitality and Energy You Deserve: Energy for Life is now available. You can order your copy for just $19.98 by following the link below.

Now I've left the Live at Budokan link there to give you an idea of the kind of music it is. And the likelihood that that demographic is listening to self help CDs. I was angry at first because I assumed it was advertising that was just poorly targeted... but what if it was a practical joke? Can I get enough friends to click on the right things to recommend something ridiculous to many many people?

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