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Amazon's Fake Review Problem

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Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#101

Post by AdamJacobMuller »

miles_matthias wrote: post #62

Here's my anecdote: my wife is an author on Amazon and personally knows most of the people who review her books. FakeSpot gave her most popular book an F grade because people were "suspiciously positive". Most people leaving reviews only leave reviews for things they absolutely love, so saying that it's "suspiciously positive" is not an indicator of it being fake. In her case, she knows these people personally and th…

> these people personally and they're not fake

I totally understand where you're coming from on this, but, you're 100% wrong here. Fakespot is looking for unbiased reviews and friend-reviews are not unbiased, what do you think the odds are that one of your wife's friends was going to leave a negative review?

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#102

Post by Marazan »

ineedasername wrote: post #8

The open review system (anyone can review any item) maybe made some sense when it was just book reviews, but makes much less sense for all items. A good start would be to only allow reviews on verified purchases. At least then it would be much harder for bad actors to up stakes on a listing and clone to a new one once the authentic negative reviews piled up. Verified reviews can be faked and gamed as well, but it is…

It seems insanely obvious to me that only people who have purchased the item through Amazon should get to review the product.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#103

Post by wingworks »

pwaai wrote: post #50
BlackjackCF wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here. I used to buy everything off of Amazon, but now I have to scrape the Internet for reviews to make sure that I can trust the thing I'm buying is actually going to be of good quality.

Yeah the fake reviews are bad for business. I'm buying much less because I know knock off Chinese white label products are being marked up 5~7x the wholesale price from Alibaba. I don't like being used as an arbitrage opportunity. I think that if unaddressed it could harm Amazon in the long run. Validating authentic and genuine reviews is still a very much under-developed solution, still relying on an equally weighte…

Why not just shop directly with Alibaba/aliexpress then, skip the big markup :D

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#105

Post by catdog »

rconti wrote: post #63
jacek wrote: post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

Huh. I've never really had an issue because I chalked it up more to people buying cheap crap and expecting it to be good. But $65 for a pair of headphones isn't exactly cheap. Was it a familiar brand but maybe a counterfeit? Or was it a brand you've never heard of, but the price is justified by very positive reviews? I'm curious.

Headphones seem to be a very strange category in general. You can get exceptional good value for money if you know what to buy and on the other hand pay a lot for utter crap.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#106

Post by Someone1234 »

dhimes wrote: post #98
Someone1234 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my wife is an author on Amazon and personally knows most of the people who review her books. So your wife has people she knows leave positive reviews in order to bump her book's review score and you're upset that Fakespot gave it an F due to them being non-organic reviews? As a consumer it sounds like Fakespot is doing a great job, and exactly what it states on the tin. What your wife is doing is at best dishonest…

So your wife has people she knows Not necessarily. See my comment sibling to GP.

> Not necessarily.

They said "she knows these people personally" and I mirrored it as "so your wife has people she knows," so what does "not necessarily" refer to here exactly?

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#107

Post by ajross »

bradlys wrote: post #100
yoodenvranx wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When I need a cable or something similar, I resorted to buy only Amazon Basic cables for the PC/monitor/TV and Anker cables/charger for the mobile phones. It is not the cheapest option but you still get high quality for a low price and you don't have to deal with any shady shops.

Eh. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FA4Y7N2/ref=oh_aui_sear... I bought that 3 years ago. I think mine is doing okay but you can tell from the reviews that it wasn't a quality cable. I doubt Amazon has really up'd their game since then.

Doesn't the fact that this this product (and presumably Amazon Basics stuff generally) is well-described by its reviews refute the whole point of the linked article and... support the grandparent point that you should stick with them where possible?

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#108

Post by jacek »

rconti wrote: post #63
jacek wrote: post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

Huh. I've never really had an issue because I chalked it up more to people buying cheap crap and expecting it to be good. But $65 for a pair of headphones isn't exactly cheap. Was it a familiar brand but maybe a counterfeit? Or was it a brand you've never heard of, but the price is justified by very positive reviews? I'm curious.

The brand is Bluedio. They have pretty good reviews considering the price. I have used Xiaomi before and was amazed by quality/price. I was hoping Bluedio, which is another Chinese brand would be also good. I was wrong.

EDIT: Here's the fake review analysis for the headphones: https://www.fakespot.com/product/bluedio-f2-faith-active-noi...

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#109

Post by dhimes »

Someone1234 wrote: post #106
dhimes wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your wife has people she knows Not necessarily. See my comment sibling to GP.

> Not necessarily. They said "she knows these people personally" and I mirrored it as "so your wife has people she knows," so what does "not necessarily" refer to here exactly?

The has part is what I mean. As I said elsewhere, friends want to do this, no solicitation required. I'm sure the author is saddened that this got her in trouble.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#110

Post by jacek »

zeep wrote: post #83
jacek wrote: post #39

The fake review problem on Amazon is much bigger than people think. Here are my two anecdotes: 1. I got bluetooth headphones on amazon (~$65). They had great reviews, but were very disappointing. I returned them and gave 2 star review. Representative from the manufacturer contacted me and offered me a pair for free. After I got them, they asked for positive review. I refused. That manipulation technique wasn't enough…

I haven't used them for a couple of years, but https://www.monoprice.com used to be really cheap for quality cables and similar stuff.

That's true. But with a coupon I could get a cable for ~$2 and prime shipping.
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