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Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

theguardian.com

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Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#151

Post by djsumdog »

x0054 wrote: post #111

Amazon is going downhill quickly. I target shoot with a compound bow as a hobby, and as a result I usually buy a set of arrows a year. In 2015 when I would search for "target arrows" on Amazon the first page results would be for legit American companies who make exceptional arrows for about $30 per set of 6. Now, and for the last 2 years if I search for "target arrows" I get pages and pages of Chinese crap arrows (I…

Why don't you just got to a sporting goods shop; either a local or a chain like REI or Dicks, and pay the retail premium and know what you're getting?

I don't want retail to go away. Fuck Amazon.

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#152

Post by technofiend »

iliis wrote: post #84
maximp wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just heard this yesterday! Can second, great episode.

So... Five stars then? ;) (But seriously, HN comments are actually great at recommending things.)

Definitely HN is the latest in a long string of sites that were good until the general public discovered them, Reddit being the most recent example. You're right: love the suggestions here and I hope the signal : noise ratio remains favorable for a good long while.

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#153

Post by x0 »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #142
joelx wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suggest Amazon solves this by requiring ALL purchasers to leave reviews of ALL products they buy. Or by adding a $10 fee to every purchase that can only be refunded by leaving a review.

Nah. Better solution is removing reviews from people who get refunds. Double win by incentivizing manufacturers to refund a disgruntled customer.

If all reviews are glowing positive, what's the point of the review system?

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#154

Post by sosborn »

CWuestefeld wrote: post #147
dclowd9901 wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. Better solution is removing reviews from people who get refunds. Double win by incentivizing manufacturers to refund a disgruntled customer.

I'd sure prefer to know that the product I'm about to buy frequently needs to be returned.

I’d also prefer to know how that return process played out.

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#155

Post by TheRealDunkirk »

inanutshellus wrote: post #126
ajross wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't the solution to that problem branding and not nationalist policing by the retailer? I mean, reading your post I don't see what Amazon can do to make you happy except ban "chinese" manufacturers. If you're seriously a regular buyer of these products, surely you have a few manufacturers that you know and trust, just like serious hobbyists in other activities have preferred brands of balls or shoes or guitar strin…

Two things: First, he covered that by saying searching by brand still had his "real" search results on page 2. Second, maybe you're super young, but Amazon used to be "good stuff", not just "hey, let's compete with eBay, on their level." What if you actually don't know the difference between "good" arrows and "bad" arrows? It used to be that Amazon had already made that call for you. Amazon used to be the place you b…

> It used to be that Amazon had already made that call for you.

This is why I've gone back to buying from brick-and-mortar stores. They've done the curation. They're not going to carry junk that always gets returned. Ten years ago, if I could buy it from Amazon, with Prime shipping, I wouldn't leave my seat. Now, if I can buy it from Target, Best Buy, or Kroger, I'll just make the trip. Good work, Amazon. I've canceled my auto-renew for Prime. I'm done.

Unfortunately, NewEgg also seems to be following in Amazon's "marketplace" footsteps. If you're listening, guys, you have an opportunity to NOT do this!...

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#156

Post by shostack »

mancerayder wrote: post #131

A colleague recently pointed me to fakespot.com, where you paste the URL of a product (like an Amazon product) and (it seems) it does an ML type analysis to score the likelihood of fakeness in the aggregate of reviews with a score and then highlights the likely fake ones and why it thinks what it thinks. There's surely a market for verification for customers as much as there's one for the criminally-minded sellers.

Which begs the question of why Amazon isn't offering this themselves, or doing it in the background in a way that prevents this from being the problem it is.

I have to wonder at some level if in the short term this boosts their sales figures, but long term erodes trust in buying from them and diminishes their stranglehold.

I used to trust Amazon reviews to the point I'd often not read a ton or research reviews else where before purchasing.

These days I often opt to just buy from a retailer from a name brand. With Amazon increasing prices it often isn't much difference in price and there's better quality control.

It has officially become a chore to buy something on Amazon if you care about doing any due diligence.

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#157

Post by castlecrasher2 »

djsumdog wrote: post #151
x0054 wrote: post #111

Amazon is going downhill quickly. I target shoot with a compound bow as a hobby, and as a result I usually buy a set of arrows a year. In 2015 when I would search for "target arrows" on Amazon the first page results would be for legit American companies who make exceptional arrows for about $30 per set of 6. Now, and for the last 2 years if I search for "target arrows" I get pages and pages of Chinese crap arrows (I…

Why don't you just got to a sporting goods shop; either a local or a chain like REI or Dicks, and pay the retail premium and know what you're getting? I don't want retail to go away. Fuck Amazon.

Before the fake review epidemic, buying on Amazon meant I didn't have to drive out for an hour or longer and instead spend time on other things.

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#158

Post by castlecrasher2 »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #155
inanutshellus wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two things: First, he covered that by saying searching by brand still had his "real" search results on page 2. Second, maybe you're super young, but Amazon used to be "good stuff", not just "hey, let's compete with eBay, on their level." What if you actually don't know the difference between "good" arrows and "bad" arrows? It used to be that Amazon had already made that call for you. Amazon used to be the place you b…

> It used to be that Amazon had already made that call for you. This is why I've gone back to buying from brick-and-mortar stores. They've done the curation. They're not going to carry junk that always gets returned. Ten years ago, if I could buy it from Amazon, with Prime shipping, I wouldn't leave my seat. Now, if I can buy it from Target, Best Buy, or Kroger, I'll just make the trip. Good work, Amazon. I've cancel…

>They're not going to carry junk that always gets returned

I'm guessing you mean specialty stores, and not Walmart.

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#159

Post by monetus »

i_made_a_booboo wrote: post #109
pmcollins wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a problematic item on Amazon and left a negative review. The seller contacted me three times via email and offered me $30 (the cost of the item) to remove the review. I didn't take it but maybe others had. And I wonder if I was duped into buying the thing because previous negative reviewers had been bought off. Considering the fake reviews and the number of counterfeit items I've received from Amazon, I defa…

So if you want free stuff just leave bad reviews. The world is so broken. My sister's used to do the same thing to the Coca Cola company when we were young. They would call the hotline and complain they had some come that tasted like dishwashing liquid and they would get loads of coupons sent to them for free coke. I think they did it every time we moved house and we lived in quite a few houses. It was always enterta…

Coke* - that's an unfortunate typo

Re: Fake review factories that run on Facebook and post five-star Amazon reviews

#160

Post by genidoi »

sundvor wrote: post #144
astrodust wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only way to describe this is as an unfortunate inevitability of review systems as a whole.

Yep. To me, the real bullshit is the expectation that anything other than a 100% 5/5 score is an indicator of serious fault. If you leave 4/5 as an eBay review for example you have pretty much offended the seller.

Most products sold on eBay / amazon are too simple for detailed seller ratings to matter. The usefulness of a 5 star review system is far higher when there is a wide and fairly continuous spectrum of expected performance (food, airbnb) compared to a binary choice between "something this simple really shouldn't break so easily" and "it works fine".
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