Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

blog.kevmod.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

431–440 of 499 posts

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#431

Post by m463 »

pavon wrote: post #160
skept wrote: post #114

I had a very similar experience last month. I ordered this toaster[1]. When I received it I noticed that in their user manual they were offering a "gift" in return for an Amazon review. Although to be fair they didn't explicitly demand that the review had to be positive. I submitted this 4-star review [2] to Amazon: I received the toaster not too long ago. It looks just like in the advertised pictures and works fine.…

The thing you have to know about Amazon is that they combine all the reviews for all sellers of the same product (to the extent that Amazon thinks it is the same product). As such, reviews aren't an appropriate place to leave feedback about a seller, and leaving your review up would have been misleading. The reviews are only supposed to be about the product. You can leave feedback for sellers by clicking on their nam…

I agree. I (usually) find it less than helpful if the review talks about shipping problems or other non-product stuff. (most products can be sold by multiple vendors)

That said, there was one review I found helpful because the review said it (something physically large) was damaged in shipment even though they returned it twice.

Maybe there should be a workflow for "You are purchasing from 81% positive - would you like to see their reviews as a seller?"

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#432

Post by jillesvangurp »

Under some legislations this could be considered a form of hidden advertising, that is not allowed. E.g. youtubers are getting in trouble in the Netherlands for not properly disclosing their sponsorships. You could argue this is the same in principle.

The practice of buying positive reviews is misleading. Stuff like this would be a lot less attractive if it would have to come with a disclaimer from the seller. Better still, since AWS makes money from the transaction, they could be liable here as well. Right now AWS just looks the other way because it's not their problem and their revenue depends on people getting tricked into spending their cash so they won't go out of their way trying to stop that.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#433

Post by air7 »

rebuilder wrote: post #354
nextos wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google reviews are massively edited upon complaints. A while ago I rented a pretty nice and expensive apartment in Southern England. I was the first tenant and there were huge pipe leaks and other horrible construction issues, like a misaligned lift that kept trapping people inside. Neighbors next door, who owned apartments built by the same company, had different but equally annoying issues. And the company didn't d…

Selectively removing negative reviews is so sleazy, one wonders if it is actually even legal. Surely there's some truth-in-advertising legislation this falls under?

The flip side of this is that a single negative review offsets hundreds of positive ones.

I've literally had to stop using my airbnb account that had dozens of possitive reviews after a single bad review left in bad faith (owner privetly asked for money to remove it) meant that each new owner was hesitant about me and asking me specifically about that single comment.

I contacted airbnb support with proof of this and they said it can't be removed. Ive stopped using the service since then.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#434

Post by pjc50 »

b0rsuk wrote: post #427
vmception wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite is seeing 5 star reviews that are hijacking the top to complain. I've also seen 1 star reviews that are exalting reviews. But my all time ongoing pet peeve is how recommendation engines especially on video streaming and video game series use numbers and star systems that are not based on any other human's input. Not a critic, not a user score, just an algorithm's confidence score on similarities.

Portal, the game by Valve, has some rabid fanboys. I only played it this year because my computer was unable to handle it. I was disappointed with how easy and short the game was. Style over substance for someone who enjoys Baba Is You or Riven. Anyway, the first several negative reviews read like this: "Are you seriously looking for a negative review? Come on! The game is amazing! Buy it!" I hate the people who don'…

> Portal, the game by Valve

Published in 2007.

> I only played it this year

Portal is to a great extent a tech demo for its unprecedented "portal" rendering. This enabled some very 3D puzzles of a style that gamers hadn't seen before. Of course it's going to look a little pale in 2020, although you'd hope any original bugs were fixed.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#435

Post by mejutoco »

EpicEng wrote: post #306
staplers wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily we have rotten tomatoes as a decent indicator of actual critic reviews. Until they start gaming the reviews to boost movies they (subsidiary of Comcast) want to promote.

Personally I couldn't care less about the critic reviews/score, but the audience score is usually spot on for the stuff I'm interested in.

I like to use the audience score as well. I found it has some pitfalls occasionally, although they can be fun.

Certain movies attract a very narrow and enthusiastic, that will upvote the movie disproportionately (people not interested in the kind of movie will not even vote). A my little pony movie can get as good scores as the Godfather. Maybe it is, who knows.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#436

Post by amai »

The review system is basically broken on the internet. Paid reviews and fake reviews (positive and also negative) are everywhere.

A good solution could be if shops would simply allow only reviews, but without a grade. Just some text. This would reduce the incentive of trying to game the grading system of reviews, but still give consumers some information about the pros and cons of a product.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#437

Post by Nextgrid »

whimsicalism wrote: post #87
hbosch wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have to assume you meant the Amazon product with the url suffix "dp/B087NN41JH/". This seems to be the highest reviewed result for search term "webcam", at least on my page. Here on HN, we have a savvy audience that understands the problem on Amazon with counterfeits, fakes, and low-quality items. I don't usually have this problem myself, because I go out of my way to buy things from sellers that I recognize, such…

They won't pop back up with 12k 5 star reviews immediately? I'm honestly shocked by this comment - warning sides aside, paying for reviews should cause a ban. I am as unconvinced by this argument about "popping back" as I am by people who say that raising taxes is useless because people will just hide their money.

> paying for reviews should cause a ban

Morally it should, but business-wise, for Amazon, it shouldn't. Amazon already has the monopoly and drove a lot of smaller retailers out of business; the counterfeit problem is not (yet?) causing people to shop elsewhere, probably because for a lot of goods there either isn't an elsewhere or the elsewhere is still a worse experience (longer delivery, etc).

Our regulatory environment also doesn't hold Amazon liable for selling counterfeit and/or dangerous goods (bad batteries which catch fire, etc), so there is yet again no pressure on Amazon to do anything.

Amazon doesn't really care whether you get a bad/counterfeit item, they get their money regardless. Until this changes there's no reason for Amazon to act.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#438

Post by BlueTemplar »

mejutoco wrote: post #435
EpicEng wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I couldn't care less about the critic reviews/score, but the audience score is usually spot on for the stuff I'm interested in.

I like to use the audience score as well. I found it has some pitfalls occasionally, although they can be fun. Certain movies attract a very narrow and enthusiastic, that will upvote the movie disproportionately (people not interested in the kind of movie will not even vote). A my little pony movie can get as good scores as the Godfather. Maybe it is, who knows.

Yeah, this is why critic reviews are still needed.

Re: Amazon disallows pointing out paid reviews

#440

Post by BlueTemplar »

andrei_says_ wrote: post #411
maxk42 wrote: post #210

I'm seeing similar things everywhere. I stood in line for a food truck a couple years ago that offered a promotion "$2 off your order if you show us your 5-star review of our truck on [site]." Obviously, you have to do this before you even order your food so I was intensely put-off by this. I gave them a 5-star review with no comment, received my discount, then after I tried the food I edited the review to 1-star wit…

Any review system eventually kills all below 5-star businesses. So it is a matter of survival to game the system - because everyone else does. Yes the food truck’s request sucked, but without it they’d be out of business.

Nobody gets exactly 100% positive reviews. And it's about highest reviews, not about clearing some bar. Cheaters must be punished.
Post reply on HN