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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Westermeyer who wrote (38836)	2/8/1999 8:03:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

The bulls should love it, and I'm starting to get impressed. Bezos really will do whatever it takes to make a profit. If his stock had not already gone from 199 to 109. I might go long. >>SEATTLE, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Internet retailing giant Amazon.com Inc. <AMZN.O> came under fire Monday after the disclosure that publishers are paying up to $10,000 to have their books featured on some of the most coveted real estate on the Internet. The Seattle-based company defended its actions, saying it employs a staff of editors who make decisions "completely independent" of any so-called cooperative advertising payments made by publishers. "Our basic practice is to recommend only those books we feel are worthy of it," Amazon.com spokesman Bill Curry said. "Our editors are free to reject books that are proposed for co-op -- and do it every day." But revelations that the company is seeking as much as $10,000 from publishers for featured treatment of certain books drew sharp criticism from rivals, consumer advocates and independent booksellers. "I'm disturbed by it," said Richard Howorth, owner of Square Books in Oxford, Miss., and president of the American Booksellers Association. "Ethically, it's a pretty shady way to sell books, in my view." The issue of cooperative payments, which are commonplace throughout the retail industry, is a particularly touchy one in the publishing industry because of concern about the increasing concentration of power in a small number of publishers and retailers. "What we're really tremendously afraid of is that a reading society and democracy is jeopardized by narrowing of the distribution of ideas," Howorth said. On the sales side, a trend that began in the early 1990s with the rise of "big box" bookstores is accelerating now with the emergence of online booksellers including Amazon.com, which likely will sell more than $1 billion worth of books this year in a flat U.S. market. Industry analysts said that while some bookstores accept payments to feature books in their windows or other high-visibility locations, online retailers are different in part because they have created an appearance of editorial independence. "Particularly Amazon, with the editorial voice they've developed and the relationship with their customers they've developed, should be diligent not to blur the line between editorial voice and shelf-space purchases," said Ken Cassar, an analyst with Jupiter Communications. "There needs to be a Chinese wall between the editorial voice and marketing." That may be a lot to ask from what is, after all, a retailer. But he and others also noted that Amazon.com, which carries far more titles than even the biggest physical store, has made it a point to work with the smallest publishers to carry obscure titles. Amazon.com declined to comment on the exact terms of its agreements with publishers, including a report in the New York Times that the prices range up to $10,000 for a premium package including feature coverage in the "Destined for Greatness" category. "We stand behind every recommendation -- every one of them," said Curry, who added that the overwhelming majority of books featured on its home page do not benefit from co-op payments. "If any reader feels he was duped by a recommendation he can send the book back for a full refund." One executive of a large publisher, who declined to be identified, said Amazon.com refused to accept payments to promote books that did not fit its standards. "I'm not sure anybody is particularly surprised or particularly outraged" by the news about payments, the executive said. But barnesandnoble.com, the online affiliate of Barnes & Noble Inc. and Bertelsmann AG, was quick to claim the moral high ground as its rival suffered from the bad publicity. "Our editorial content is not for sale," said Ben Boyd, spokesman for barnesandnoble.com. "We would never sell a space on our recommended area. ... When we tell (customers) we recommend a book, it's not a reflection of a price tag associated with our opinions." Boyd said barnesandnoble.com accepted payments from publishers but tried to make the association clear by promoting the selected books in special "boutique" sections. "We make crystal clear the difference between what is our opinion and what is paid for," he said. 19:41 02-08-99 << ps As far as making money on the upside, on this "Thing". My timing sucked.