Amazon's own data shows that 60% of top-searched products are now sponsored placements over better-rated alternatives. Is that customer obsession or customer exploitation?
You've identified the exact tension that keeps me up at night - the moment we prioritize ad revenue over customer trust, we've started the clock on our own irrelevance.
Let me tell you a story from 1999, when online retailers were deleting negative reviews because they thought it would help sales. I made the opposite decision at Amazon - we'd show every review, the good and the brutal. Analysts thought I w...