Colbert beats West, doesn’t claim top spot

“Operation Humble Kanye” is sort of a success. If you don’t know, Stephen Colbert attempted to have the top album on iTunes by telling everyone to buy his Christmas album on December 3rd at 5PM Eastern. Last night, the album was #15. This morning, “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All” is the #3 album on iTunes.

Now, while Colbert was trying to get the top spot, he was also trying to have his album overtake Kanye West’s “808s & Heartbreak.” West’s album is now #4, looking up at Colbert’s #3 album. Does this mean you can game iTunes by having a lot of people buy your album just within a couple of minutes? Perhaps. Maybe record companies are already doing that to move things like Britney Spears’ “Circus” to the top spot.