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Amazon's Fake Review Problem

brianbien.com

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Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#301

Post by xellisx »

stri8ed wrote: post #293
xellisx wrote: post #9

I usually look at the 1 star reviews first and see if the complaints are user error, unreal expectations or really a poorly designed product.

I don't know that this solves the problem, since competitors can just start leaving fake negative reviews on competing products.

While that is true, if it's a low effort 1 star review, E.g. "It's crap", with no explanation of why it's crap, I ignore that. If there's a lengthy 1 star review with details, then I factor that in to "Was that one just bad, or all them are like that". I don't just look at the 1 stars, I work my way up. More details for me equal a higher weighted review. Pictures, video and stuff help too, but of course those can be faked. Lately I've been looking at audio equipment for S&Gs (Microphones, audio interfaces, phantom power injection, etc...).

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#303

Post by jasonlotito »

corvallis wrote: post #132
bootlooped wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> $12.99 in the store and $27.xx at Amazon! Was this from a 3rd party seller? I have seen a lot of 3rd party sellers have listings for pretty outrageous prices. I think they're either trying to catch people who don't shop around / don't know what the product is worth, or they are just not managing their pricing well. On a lot of popular products you can see an example of the latter where Amazon themselves will be sel…

I don’t remember if this was the exact link as this was several weeks ago. This was the toy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00OYJNKJG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=...

So yeah, 3rd party. Also, seems to be a reasonable online price. I'm sure you could find stuff locally, if you can find it. But unless I can find it and also buy the same one you found for the same price, it's not really the same thing.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#304

Post by jasonlotito »

barking wrote: post #262

I was surprised to see that possibly the best vb6 book ever written, which has 96 reviews on amazon.com, is scored an F by fakespot https://www.fakespot.com/product/programming-microsoft-visua...

I searched a few more well known and popular books (ones that HN would recommend) and they all come back with nothing better than a C. This doesn't instill much confidence in me.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#306

Post by pwaai »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #241
pwaai wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what did you find disappointing about it? First time I heard about it, what is it they do that's worth subscribing? On researching, yeah it's honestly a chore everytime because so much disinformation/misinformation. I'm not sure what decentralization would look like or even make sense. It seems like you just need some central guy like CR to vet and test out all the products. I go to Youtube for that tho.

Well, I'd had access to their physical catalogues when I was younger through my parents' subscription, so I had good memories of their reviews. Their site has TONS of tracking and marketing scripts, which I consider anti-user. Furthermore, if you block or disable any, the site breaks. For a service claiming to be pro-user they seem to be engaging in a lot of dark patterns. Aside from that, I found their reviews lacki…

What would the perfect thing look like for helping you narrow down your options?

And if it was successful in helping you make informed consumer decisions, would it be something you'd come back for again and again?

Lately, I'm super passionate and vocal about protecting consumers rights. I've been disenfranchised and powerless to act against shady business practices. I've been threatened for leaving negative reviews on purchases. Lawyers only go after high profile high payout cases. Local media seems to be in bed with corporate sponsors.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#308

Post by Chattered »

Chattered wrote: post #307

It's not the same 23 word sentence. It's the same 23 word run-on. The first comma should be either a semi-colon, colon or stop.

Point being that plagiarism/copying might be easier to spot via mistakes. I understand that this is how scholars do it for ancient texts.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#309

Post by krzyk »

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…

> Most people leaving reviews only leave reviews for things they absolutely love

Hmm, I think it is quite the opposite, I'm more inclined to leave a review (warn people) when I don't like something.

Or maybe it is a cultural thing (I'm from Europe).

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#310

Post by jacek »

LV-426 wrote: post #250
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…

> offered me a pair for free. After I got them , they asked for positive review. I refused. So they were "very disappointing", but not "very disappointing" enough to refuse a free pair, at their expense? > That manipulation technique Perhaps, since you were happy to accept the headphones , they believed your original negative review was not sincere, but itself a manipulation technique to get a freebie or special offe…

> So they were "very disappointing", but not "very disappointing" enough to refuse a free pair, at their expense?

They said that the pair I got and returned was defective and "want to make things right" by sending me another, free pair.

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