Posted on 07/11/2014 12:12:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
As Dave Weigel reports in a tart blog post today, conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza recently managed to pull off an impressive marketing feat.
D’Souza and his lawyers claimed that despite the hit status of his new book and movie, “America,” Google was deliberately downgrading the project in its search results and Costco had removed the book from shelves for politically motivated reasons. The result? Google bumped “America” up in the rankings and Costco restocked the book.
Of course, as Weigel explains, “D’Souza’s book, like his movie [which made $2.75 million in its first weekend], is no runaway hit. According to Nielsen’s Bookscan, which tracks sales, D’Souza’s latest has sold 23,000 copies. That’s not bad — my publisher would call it a win if my upcoming book sold that much in a month — but it’s 139,000 fewer copies than Ben Carson’s latest, ‘One Nation,’ has sold.”
D’Souza can get away with this not just because claims of political oppression work – neither Google nor Costco wants to be on the receiving end of conspiracy theorizing – but because it has become increasingly hard to define what constitutes a hit in any area of pop culture.
It is one thing to say that a monster blockbuster like “Avatar” or an absolute runaway best-seller like “Fifty Shades of Grey” is a hit. It is quite another to figure out where the border lies between hit and modest success.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
What’s with the pimples?
Box office Mojo has it 9th in political documentaries and 29 in all documentaries.
Should move up several spots in the next two weeks or so.
Jealous much, Aylissa?
Creepy rapist vibe from that photo. Serial killer material?
I saw a book that is taking up some serious shelf space at COSTCO but not selling anything. Did the author of that book “manpulate” the company to keep the book on the shelf? Who did the author have to not sleep with to keep it on the shelf when it isn’t even in the top 100 on Amazon? It was called “Hard Choices” or something....
Screw Costco.
I just got home from seeing the movie.
Very well done - Dinesh hit another home run.
It is chilling to say the least.
I am going to see it again and organize as many friends and relatives as I can to go with me.
Subtitle: "Dead Broke In Bush's Evil 'Merika"
So, she's a pathological liar.
“Whether it was or wasn’t, Costco can manipulate but D’Souza can’t...Why?”
Did I say that? I just said the google claim was bogus.
“I don’t suppose you read or saw Dinesh’s movie”
Nope, I am not a fan of his style.
lol
Didn’t think so.
All the critics on Amazon who commented on hating his book did not read it.
“All the critics on Amazon who commented on hating his book did not read it.”
What does that have to do with me?
Oh, nothing at all.
Sure.
Ah, I see. You are one of those people who like to imply things but are too damned cowardly to come out and say it. Good to know.
I am not a coward, and I am done with this conversation.
I will comment on your nasty accusation, however, by stating that I don’t want to attempt logical debate with you. Just for the record, as you’ve falsely accused me, I will say this: What I stated was not insinuation but obvious fact about which nothing needs to be explained
This is the kind of propaganda conservative politicians and Dinesh himself, must endure. accusations for not being perfect.
BLECHH!!
Here’s a comment from above on the movie from someone who has seen it:
“Screw Costco.
I just got home from seeing the movie.
Very well done - Dinesh hit another home run.
It is chilling to say the least...”
You, on the other hand, are busy detracting Dinesh for something that has nothing to do with Costco.
And you haven’t even seen the movie.
Like it or not, agree or not, it is logical that when one has not examined what one is criticizing, the value of the criticism is very discredited.
the Google claim was hogwash?
Care to provide some documentation on that?
I don’t care who it is, when I go to the theater to see a movie, I don’t want to hear about politics. Everybody’s different, of course, but I want to be entertained at the theater.
” Just for the record, as you’ve falsely accused me, I will say this: What I stated was not insinuation but obvious fact about which nothing needs to be explained”
If that’s true, then you could point out the post where you stated the “obvious fact”, instead of just insinuating.
“This is the kind of propaganda conservative politicians and Dinesh himself, must endure. accusations for not being perfect.”
What is “the kind of propaganda”? What exactly are you taking issue with? That I said one of the claims he made was bogus? That is not propaganda if it is true, it’s just a statement of fact.
“You, on the other hand, are busy detracting Dinesh for something that has nothing to do with Costco.
And you haven’t even seen the movie.
Like it or not, agree or not, it is logical that when one has not examined what one is criticizing, the value of the criticism is very discredited.”
I haven’t said a single word to criticize the movie, have I? Why should I have to see his movie to make a statement about him that is unrelated to the content of his movie?
Do you have to go out and watch all of Michael Moore’s movies before you can state that he is a slovenly hypocrite?
Or is it just that you think I am not allowed to say a critical word about someone if they are on our side of the political spectrum?
“That I said one of the claims he made was bogus? That is not propaganda if it is true, it’s just a statement of fact.”
No one is stopping you from proving your ‘fact’, which you have not done.
“Care to provide some documentation on that?”
Sure, here are 2 separate FR threads from the day the claim was made, where multiple FReepers, including myself, tested the claim independently and verified that it was not legitimate:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3177471/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3177532/posts
Besides which, google, like most other search engines, customizes search results by user, meaning what is ranked high in results for one user is not universal for everyone. That fact alone debunks the kind of blanket claim D’Souza made.
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