I am also a true believer of them manipulating Our sales. and That statement is Not a tinfoil Hat . just experience.
Define "manipulating".
I said it before, even your local supermarket is "manipulating" their sales by placing specific products in high traffic areas, let alone Amazon & Co, through their sophisticated ways of tracking buyers preferences. Why would SS be different?
Speaking about tin foil: what do you think about "Better Call Saul"? 
Don't get him started, he'll claim it was his idea and he thought of it in 1980. But he knows all the actors personally, they are party pals.