I just got this from Amazon
"Dear Amazon.com Customer,
We've noticed that customers who have expressed interest in 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google by Philipp Lenssen have also ordered MCDST Exam Review by Neil, Tucker. For this reason, you might like to know that Neil, Tucker's MCDST Exam Review is now available. [..]"
Ok, where the heck does "55 ways to have fun with google" have anything to do with "Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) certification"-- that is used by technicians to prove their Windows XP troubleshooting skills eh ??
Where and how does these two books intersect such that I maybe even faintly interested in MCDST ?? |
I got this email too. I thought it might be spam though, since I shop at Amazon UK and not amazon.com. |
Heh. I guess Amazon needs to increase the threshold of absolute matches that trigger a suggestion. I bet they have some percentage treshold, like "if 1% of all buyers of a book like A & B, then suggest A to buyers of B and vice versa". Only that "55 Ways..." didn't sell a whole lot on Amazon (let's say 100? I dunno), so maybe only a single person who bought "55 Ways..." also bought "MCDST...". Or something along the lines :) |
Yeah, but the algo's are so mismatched here.. jus shows how difficult it is..
"so maybe only a single person who bought "55 Ways..." also bought "MCDST..."
yeah thats like saying.. I'll bought "gone with the wind" and then Amazon algos will say suggest "gone with the wind" to whomever bought 55 ways .... thats funky correct ?? |
> yeah thats like saying.. I'll bought "gone with the wind" and then Amazon algos will say suggest "gone with the wind" to whomever bought 55 ways .... thats funky correct ??
It's not necessary. E.g. let's imagine that Amazon uses an algo that verifies how much the book you've bought have sold:
- "Gone with the wind": many copies sold, only one to a "55 ways" buyer = it's not a significant couple
- "MCDST": few copies sold, one to a "55 ways" buyer = it's a significant couple
I've used the same idea with Google results: http://blogoscoped.com/forum/83810.html |
