Short answers, pulled from the story.
Goodreads was founded by Otis Chandler and Elizabeth Khuri Chandler in December 2006 and launched in January 2007. The two met at Stanford University, where Otis studied engineering and Elizabeth studied English.
Amazon announced the acquisition of Goodreads on the 28th of March 2013, completing the deal in the second quarter of that year for an undisclosed sum. At the time, Goodreads had 16 million members.
By September 2023, Goodreads had more than 150 million members. The site grew from 650,000 members in December 2007 to 10 million by July 2012.
Review bombing on Goodreads refers to floods of one-star ratings, sometimes posted before a book is even published, often targeting authors for reasons unrelated to the book itself. The platform's moderation is manual and faces a backlog of flagged reviews; critics have noted that enforcement is inconsistent.
Iranian users have faced access restrictions from two directions. In February 2010, the Iranian government blocked Goodreads during a broader wave of internet censorship. In June 2019 and again in late June 2025, Goodreads itself suspended Iranian accounts, citing U.S. government sanctions and export control regulations.
In December 2007, Goodreads received an estimated $750,000 from angel investors. In 2009, True Ventures invested $2 million in the company, sustaining its growth before the Amazon acquisition in 2013.