Barnes & Noble: Obama Book in Response to God Bio Search Was 'Error'

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It was all just an "error" that's since been "fine-tuned." So says Barnes & Noble [B&N] now about the way its search engine was prominently returning Barack Obama's "Audacity of Hope" in response to search requests for "God: A Biography." We wrote about the matter here last Thursday.

Today, reader Dan H. wrote to tell us about an interesting exchange of emails he had with B&N regarding the situation. According to Dan, after reading our NewsBusters article, he emailed B&N to express his displeasure, and received what to all appearances was a form letter focusing on freedom of expression, rather than the substance of the complaint.

Dan wrote back to B&N:

Please re-read what I wrote. You are missing everything I said. Your response has nothing to do with what I wrote. Nothing. I am not asking for censorship in any way, shape or form. I am not talking about diversity of culture nor am I speaking of or against individual lifestyles or philosophies. Your answer sounds like you got it out of a big, thick book of answers based upon generic request.

I mentioned a specific problem/issue. You never once addressed it in your answer. Not once. That is an insult to me and makes me wonder if you even read my letter. In fact, your response was so off of the mark and lame, I wonder if you, along with the programmer who decided Obama should be listed with God, should have the jobs you have. Don't insult me or yourself by writing from a stock portfolio of responses. In fact, you don't even have to agree with me. I am perfectly ok with that. Just address what I have written, as a real human being, and respond with thought, as a real human being.

There is no way anyone in your organization can look me in the eye and tell me the the search results for the aforementioned search term, matches with the book by Mr. Obama. No way.

Regards but insulted,

Dan H.

To Dan's surprise, B&N replied to his follow-up, with this message [emphasis added]:

Dear Dan,

Thank you for your feedback regarding the results you received when searching for "God: the Biography" on our website.

We have fine tuned our search engine and have corrected this error.
We truly value your patronage and your online shopping experience is extremely important to us.

Visit www.bn.com and click on the options that appear in the upper right-hand corner to view information about your order.

We look forward to your next visit.

Sincerely,

Deborah

Customer Service Representative
BarnesandNoble.com
http://www.bn.com/

So there you have it. But was this truly an "error," a glitch in the algorithm that simply needed to be "fine-tuned"? Or was it an "error" on the part of B&N employees—who let their politics intrude on their business? We might never know, unless a B&N insider is willing to speak out. But Rush Limbaugh has an evidence-backed opinion on the matter. Commenting on the matter last week, Rush said [audio here]:

That is not an accident. I know these people at Barnes & Noble. I've had many run-ins with them on the golf course. Bunch of huge, left-wing leftists. Absolutely right.