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Amazon's Fake Review Problem

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Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#311

Post by grapeshot »

rdlecler1 wrote: post #172

Amazon reviews system is broken. It seems to favor the cheapest functional product but not everyone wants to buy the cheapest thing. Sometimes they want the best quality item and it’s hard to interpolate this from the review system. Reviews really need to be weighted to the kinds of purchases people make. Someone buying the top of the line OLED TV is going to have a different set of preferences than someone who is bu…

With TVs and computer parts it becomes impossible to read the reviews because they are merged with every other variation of that product from the same brand, with wildly different features and quality levels. Look up LG monitors or eVGA power supplies for instance.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#312

Post by pmoriarty »

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 was once greatly disappointed by an item and left a very, very detailed review which reported the exact reasons for my dissatisfaction and all the various tests I made of the product that led me to my conclusion.

All my effort was for nothing. The vendor just delisted that item and re-listed it again, so no one would even read my review unless they bothered to read reviews for a delisted product.

I guess I could have re-posted my review in the new listing, but it was too much trouble, so I never bothered to do so.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#313

Post by emh68 »

astura wrote: post #281
emh68 wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've actually recently gotten a fake from Macys.com, so it seems to me that sites like Amazon and eBay are saturated with fakes, and the scammers are infiltrating supply chains in general. (They refused to accept the return, however, so I don't think the problem is that widespread, or maybe they're just not aware of the issue yet.) This might be brick & mortar's last laugh. How do you protect against fake merchandise…

What was the product, if you don't mind sharing.

Clothing item. I received a really cheap item by the same manufacturer, with a tag jammed into it identifying it as the higher-priced item.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#314

Post by rebootthesystem »

Amazon has the power to fix this. They don't seem to care. Simple logic and heuristics would be enough.

Amazon allows anyone to post a review. You don't even have to buy the product. That is fundamentally wrong.

That's the first easy step: If you did not buy the product on Amazon you cannot post a review.

Amazon allows people who receive deep discounts to post reviews. That is ripe for manipulation.

And so, the second filter is simple: If someone doesn't pay at least N%, say 50%, for a product they don't get to post a review.

Amazon allows people to post a review at any time, even before the product ships. You can post a review for toothpaste before you actually use it.

The third filter would include a variable purchase-to-review period. The length of this period is different depending on the type of product. Maybe someone who buys a USB cable can post a review a couple of weeks after actually receiving it --but not sooner. Someone buying weight loss pills might need to wait 60 days.

In other words, introduce some common sense into a process that would only allow actual retail buyers of a product to experience the product for a reasonable amount of time before allowing them to post a review, positive or negative.

It goes beyond that. Negative reviews need to be routed to the vendor before they appear publicly on Amazon. Why? Amazon needs to give vendors a first shot at solving the problem. The current system is moronic. People can give a USB cable a bad review because they don't like the color. The thing might work just fine but the person wanted a different shade of green and can give the product a 1 star review. This is nonsense.

In general terms, Amazon reviews, due to Amazon's own incompetence, are pretty much worthless these days.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#315

Post by galaxyLogic »

lightwin wrote: post #213
jacek wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's brilliant. Here's Fakespot page for the headphones I wrote about: https://www.fakespot.com/product/bluedio-f2-faith-active-noi...

If Fakespot is able to spot the fake reviews, Amazon could have also utilized the similar tech. What stops them?

Fake reviews are usually positive. That is just advertising for Amazon which unlike normal advertising HIDES the fact that it is paid-for advertising. Amazon benefits when there is fake positive advertising about stuff sold through them.

Now it is possible that Amazon actually does a good job of stopping fake negative advertisement on its site. Good for them. What would stop them? I don't think there are any laws against putting more money into stopping fraud which does not benefit you than fraud which does.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#316

Post by corvallis »

jasonlotito wrote: post #303
corvallis wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That’s not an accurate way to view this particular situation. I went to the store to look for a toy in a broad category (gender, age, price range). I saw this one that fulfilled my requirements, and I did a quick price check online just to compare, having little experience with this type of purchase. If I had been primarily shopping on amazon to begin with, I wouldn’t have even considered this toy due to it being out of my price range; and I would have gotten less value for the money spent. The point is more that Amazon can often have an unreasonable markup and people may not be fully cognizant of that. If they were, would their habits change?

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#317

Post by RachelF »

lightwin wrote: post #213
jacek wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's brilliant. Here's Fakespot page for the headphones I wrote about: https://www.fakespot.com/product/bluedio-f2-faith-active-noi...

If Fakespot is able to spot the fake reviews, Amazon could have also utilized the similar tech. What stops them?

Fake reviews are mostly 5 star, and people reading the reviews want confirmation of their purchase intent.

Amazon has an incentive in showing positive reviews first, as this makes a sale.

Look at an Amazon listing and the 5 star review is always shown first.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#318

Post by normalocity »

y2kenny wrote: post #236
lightwin wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Fakespot is able to spot the fake reviews, Amazon could have also utilized the similar tech. What stops them?

May be the spotting is actually not that great. One way to test it is to find a popular, known-to-be good product that you have and see what the result is. The example I tried was the Instant Pot (which is rated D): https://www.fakespot.com/product/instant-pot-ip-duo60-7-in-1... Oddly enough, the same product listing on the US site is rated as A (the above is for the Canadian site): https://www.fakespot.com/product/i…

And a known-good product doesn't mean it won't have fake reviews. The fake reviews are there to boost sales, even for legit products.

If it's an arms race for reviews, at some point, even good products will have to pay up to keep pace.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#319

Post by normalocity »

mtpn wrote: post #277
richardknop wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Profit they make from extra sales due to fake reviews? Why do you assume fake reviews are bad for Amazon bottom line?

When a customer is burned by a bad product with excellent reviews, especially more than once, ordering from Amazon could quickly become more trouble than it's worth.

I think in that case people will fall back to buying the brands they know rather than trusting the reviews. There are plenty of other reasons people are loyal to Amazon, so bad reviews on their own, I don't think, will be enough to stop people shopping there.

Re: Amazon's Fake Review Problem

#320

Post by simooooo »

richardknop wrote: post #258
lightwin wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Fakespot is able to spot the fake reviews, Amazon could have also utilized the similar tech. What stops them?

Profit they make from extra sales due to fake reviews? Why do you assume fake reviews are bad for Amazon bottom line?

Well if you buy something that is really a load of garbage. They will get more returns to process
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