Community - Planet Out Amazon removes link in sex manual flap Mon Dec 9, 7:51 PM ET
Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
SUMMARY: Amazon.com on Friday removed a link to an anal sex manual for men that was featured next to a listing for a book by televangelist Pat Robertson.
Highlighting a potential problem in online recommendation systems, Amazon.com on Friday removed a link to an anal sex manual for men that was featured next to a listing for a spiritual guide written by televangelist Pat Robertson.
The two titles were temporarily linked by technology that tracks and displays lists of merchandise looked at and purchased by Amazon.com visitors. The display is a promotion, with the products appearing under the title, "Customers who shopped for this item also shopped for these items."
The automated results appearing with Robertson's "Six Steps to Spiritual Revival" included a second title by Robertson and the sex manual, Silicon.com reported.
"It seemed to us that this is a rather curious juxtaposition of the two titles," Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith told the news Web site.
The "curious" linkage may have been a hoax by site visitors who repeatedly clicked on the two items, thereby tricking the automated recommendation system into connecting the two items as a reflection of shoppers' interests.
"The prank makes me also wonder how much the Amazon recommendation system is being hacked by authors and publishers as a new marketing tool," said security consultant Richard Smith.
Robertson, host of the "The 700 Club" and founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, has frequently criticized GLBT people as sinful. He agreed with Rev. Jerry Falwell when he appeared on "700 Club" and <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news/article.html?2001/09/14/1blamed> the Sept. 11 attacks on gays and liberal groups.