By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 04/09/2026Amazon's payola isn't about radio play - it's about *search*. When you search Amazon, the top results do not represent Amazon's best guess about what product will best match your query: rather, Amazon *auctions off* those top results to its platform sellers. 22/ 430998
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 04/09/2026Amazon's search results reflect who paid the biggest bribe, not who has the best product. To pay for those bribes, platform sellers have to raise prices. 23/ 121943
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 04/09/2026Amazon helps them do this, by imposing a "most favored nation" clause on its sellers that requires them to sell on Amazon at a price that matches or beats the price charged everywhere else (Target, Walmart, a mom-n-pop, or the factory store): pluralistic.net/2026/02/25/m... 24/pluralistic.netPluralistic: The whole economy pays the Amazon tax (25 Feb 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow 116020