In the wake of the recent controversial of the “Buy Button” debacle, Amazon has unleashed yet another update that is sure to rock the publishing world. With the unveiling of Amazon Charts, it appears Amazon intends to cause another splash that is sure to cause ripples all through the industry.

With their new Charts system, Amazon keeps a public record of the books that are the most read and most sold across their services. The “most read” category keeps track of the most read non print books (eBooks and audio books) through Amazon’s various services, while the “most sold” category ranks the most sold books through Amazon itself, its new physical stores, or any of its other websites.

While Amazon doesn’t disclose any actual numbers, it’s a step towards the right direction to show what they can do with the data at their disposal. Time will tell if Amazon Charts will add any value to the books that are currently on its list.

Seeing as how Amazon has quickly spread the news in terms of its marketing however, it’s easy to assume they will keep up its promotion to keep a steady flow of eyeballs looking at what’s currently at the top of the list. That’s got to eventually convert to cold hard cash.

In terms of its display, Amazon Charts has a pretty curious look to it. With its name in bold like a headline, the date it covers on the top, and a line under the name explaining what the list is in a caption like quality, it’s very reminiscent of a newspaper layout. Not unlike say, the New York Times.

But the question is, is Amazon trying to create an upset that will affect even the New York Times Bestsellers List?