Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online • Hacker News Board

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#401

Post by mikestew » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 6:28 PM UTC

ecf wrote: post #398

mikestew wrote: post #383

Yes, yes, quit buying stuff from Amazon. That's what I said when I went to buy compression socks within the last week. I'll just buy from the vendor (OS1). Hey, they take Apple Pay, too. And, hey, what's this $0.98 that ended up in my cart? "Route package protection"?[0] You mean you're passing on the cost of package insurance to me ? Fuck that, you can just cancel that $100 order for that $0.98. If it's not bullshit…

I got an email from route.com the very same day I purchased a package that was handled via shop.app. I can only guess that Shopify sold my email.

Someone at http://os1st.com did the same thing, which put me on Route's mailing list. The unsubscribe seems to work, but the whole thing just feels like everybody wanted a piece before passing you to the next vendor in the chain. And now if I see Route's name anywhere near a product, I'll walk out the door to the next vendor that DDG suggests.

Too bad, too, as the items I ordered seem to be good quality. They shipped quickly. They take Apple Pay. They were oh, so close, and then pissed it all away because someone at Route told them that if you make the print small enough maybe the customer won't notice the $0.98 you sneak in there. (I didn't notice until after the confirmation email.) Now it becomes "not the money, but the principle".

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#402

Post by PoignardAzur » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

jodrellblank wrote: post #353

nkrisc wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make good points, but on Amazon I just have to assume that all the reviews are fake. I've seen how easy it is to buy fake reviews, the lengths sellers go to get people to leave only 5-star reviews, and Amazon's inability or unwillingness to do anything about it. Why do you think any of the reviews on Amazon are real? I think any random review you pull up is more likely than not to be fake. Of course, we can't kno…

> “ Why do you think any of the reviews on Amazon are real? ” Because they contain facts which anchor them to reality and act as “proof of work” in some way. I don’t care for a review which says “this camera takes amazing pictures” that could apply to any camera and is subjective, but one which says “the cover on the sd card slot is sharp and cut my finger twice” is likely someone who has used that specific camera, a…

Yeah, that's my heuristic too, but I'm worried it's going to get increasingly gamed as time goes on.

Especially since, you know, GTP-3 is a thing, and its effects are going to be felt pretty soon.

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#403

Post by rhizome » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 6:52 PM UTC

fmajid wrote: post #341

rhizome wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mistake was in creating something planet-scale before having anti-abuse systems in place. In this regard, Amazon is very much not alone.

I suspect anti-abuse at scale is impossible. The mistake (albeit a hugely profitable one) was to turn themselves into a marketplace and platform rather than a curated seller. The implication is clear: any marketplace is untrustworthy and caveat emptor.

"At scale" is a euphemism for an ideology whose goal is world domination, there's no reason for a desire for it to be protected. Anti-abuse systems being in place is more important than preventing constraints on growth.

I mean seriously, in the past several years we've learned that "at scale" is actually a public hazard.

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#404

Post by tmp2345 » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 7:01 PM UTC

gwd wrote: post #317

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one with the customers won't work because creating a new account is trivial. Actually, I think so is creating a new company to sell stuff on Amazon. Mind you, if your company is kicked off Marketplace, it has to rebuild its reputation and inventory and stuff. But yeah, they should definitely mark companies that pay for reviews as dodgy. I don't think they would ban them - because ANYONE selling stuff on Amazon is…

> The one with the customers won't work because creating a new account is trivial. Creating a new credit card isn't.

Actually it is. Have you tried ENO by capitol one or Privacy or any other VCC company. Folks use em to buy 300 pairs of shoes when the limit was 1 per customer.

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#405

Post by tmp2345 » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 7:03 PM UTC

gwd wrote: post #270

m463 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't they just put a "this review looks fake" button next to the helpful button? Wire it into a neural net, don't make it a way to snipe competitors products. ok, ok... probably not a realistic solution. I've left a few reviews recently and one good thing I have noticed is they seem to be adding some checks (I think they're intentional). Like you review a product and it says "overall rating 1-5" but below it wil…

Or how about this: 1. Add a way to report solicitations for fake reviews. Ban companies that pay for fake reviews for a year and all their reviews above 3 stars are removed. Customers who report requests for fake reviews are given a small bonus; maybe a $5 credit or something. 2. Amazon themselves pretend to be sellers and solicit fake reviews from customers. If a customer reports the request for a fake review, they'…

#2 would be better if they just blackhole the reviews. Have folks go through the effort but never show them to to anyone except the company account.

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#406

Post by tmp2345 » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 7:05 PM UTC

behringer wrote: post #319

Meekro wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I got that offer I would post the 5-star review, claim the $100, and then edit my review to say "They tried to bribe me. 1 star. Photos attached as proof." But you're right, I think that's a legitimate issue. I'm not saying my plan is perfect, but I'm pretty sure it improves on the status quo.

Review deleted. Seller feedback should be posted to the seller page.

This its a no loose situation for the seller

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#407

Post by tmp2345 » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 7:06 PM UTC

ed_elliott_asc wrote: post #247

I bought a board game from amazon recently and it was really poor quality and it was only when I checked on the manufacturers website that I realised it was fake. When I went to report it, the seller had been removed and the item was no longer available. I contacted support and of course they refunded me the money without any issue. My problem is that they knew they had shipped me a fake product, why didn't they cont…

Because it reduces loss to not tell you. Some number of folks wont know or care

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#408

Post by vidarh » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 8:03 PM UTC

meowster wrote: post #397

vidarh wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think many of the reviews on Amazon are real because a lot of them are negative reviews warning people not to buy the product, and those are generally the ones I look at. That's harder to game, because while a seller certainly could post a negative review citing some irrelevant flaw (and I have seen that), and hope that triggers buyers who don't care, they won't stop other people (like me) from posting negative rev…

Sellers also leave negative reviews for products from competing sellers.

This is irrelevant to me unless they 1) do so while describing specific flaws that I'll actually care about, and 2) every honest seller is affected by it.

It probably sucks to be an honest seller affected by it, but I've yet to find a situation where I have unable to find a product I'm happy with, so clearly they're not doing this often enough to affect me much.

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#409

Post by Meekro » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 8:27 PM UTC

behringer wrote: post #319

Meekro wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I got that offer I would post the 5-star review, claim the $100, and then edit my review to say "They tried to bribe me. 1 star. Photos attached as proof." But you're right, I think that's a legitimate issue. I'm not saying my plan is perfect, but I'm pretty sure it improves on the status quo.

Review deleted. Seller feedback should be posted to the seller page.

In that case, I post the 5-star review, claim the $100, delete my own review, and post negative seller feedback.

Re: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online

#410

Post by CRConrad » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 8:41 PM UTC

gwd wrote: post #270

m463 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't they just put a "this review looks fake" button next to the helpful button? Wire it into a neural net, don't make it a way to snipe competitors products. ok, ok... probably not a realistic solution. I've left a few reviews recently and one good thing I have noticed is they seem to be adding some checks (I think they're intentional). Like you review a product and it says "overall rating 1-5" but below it wil…

Or how about this: 1. Add a way to report solicitations for fake reviews. Ban companies that pay for fake reviews for a year and all their reviews above 3 stars are removed. Customers who report requests for fake reviews are given a small bonus; maybe a $5 credit or something. 2. Amazon themselves pretend to be sellers and solicit fake reviews from customers. If a customer reports the request for a fake review, they'…

At least #2 won't happen: Banning customers means blocking people from paying you money. You don't get to be the richest man in the world by making sure people don't pay you money.