In 1999, Amazon.com was accepting payments of up to US$10K from publishers to give their books editorial reviews and pla

[answerhappygod]

In 1999, Amazon.com was accepting payments of up to US$10K from
publishers to give their books editorial reviews and placement on
lists of recommended books as part of a cooperative advertising
program. When this news broke, Amazon.com issued a statement that
it had done nothing wrong and that such advertising programs were a
standard part of publisher-bookstore relationship. Two days later,
Amazon.com announced that it would end the practice and offer
unconditional refunds to any customers who had purchased a promoted
book.