6 votes

Inside the ecosystem that fuels Amazon's fake review problem

2 comments

  1. euphoria066
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    I have ran into this problem in a major way when we bought charging docks for our bedside tables, and an essential oil diffuser for the laundry room. It's interesting how little money the people...

    I have ran into this problem in a major way when we bought charging docks for our bedside tables, and an essential oil diffuser for the laundry room.

    It's interesting how little money the people writing fake reviews are actually making. It doesn't seem worth it to me to do this activity that essentially ruins a basic functionality of amazon, for like $20 to $70 a month?

    I've had a couple purchases that I bought through amazon come with a similar little card to the one in the article asking for a review, but none of the ones I received specifically asked for it to be positive, or that there was any compensation, just that they were a small business and reviews really counted for them.

    2 votes
  2. cfabbro
    (edited )
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    I have experienced this first hand with a few products too. E.g. On a cheap USB hub. The one I bought was incredibly well reviewed but when it arrived turned out to be cheap junk, broke after a...

    But the product was unavailable — “like the company was rolling these protectors out in batches, then taking them off Amazon.”

    Amazon removed the screen protector listing after a BuzzFeed News inquiry, but two other listings with nearly identical product photography have more than 550 and 150 reviews each, all of which include a five-star rating and are unverified.

    I have experienced this first hand with a few products too. E.g. On a cheap USB hub. The one I bought was incredibly well reviewed but when it arrived turned out to be cheap junk, broke after a few weeks and when I went back to review it, it was gone... but then when searching for USB hubs again the EXACT same product (it was really unique looking so easy to identify) was listed under a new account/company name. However since I wasn't a "verified purchaser" of that "re-branded" product my review would likely have had less weight so I didn't bother writing one. :/

    p.s. I wound up getting the Qicent Aluminum 2 : 10 port, USB 3.0, OTG capable hub for those interested... it's the best I have ever owned in terms of features and build quality and is still working fine 4 months later.

    1 vote