LOL They knew the problem existed for a long time and decided to do nothing because more reviews = more sales
Only when people started discovering the issues then they pretend they are doing things
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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You mean that's only more money in the short term?! And over long term it has eroded trust in their platform and made people wary of it?! Execs are shocked.
Are they? Are they.
Amazon is great. Highly recommended. I bought one due my husband and he loved it.
Psssh amazon isnt working too hard at it because fake reviews = sales
Fake reviews with false information or recommendation could lead to a lot of wasted money and disappointed people. Even refunding in mass. And probably avoiding to buy from Amazon. Well it's a bit dramatic, but I don't see a positive effect for Amazon with many fake reviews in place. I'm sure Amazon want them removed, but it is hard to do this automatically for millions of products and reviews. It's hard to find out automatically which one is real and which one is false. They don't want delete legit reviews either.
Yeah, the interest for Amazon is having at least one product with good reviews for each query. Beyond that, they want different alternatives within that scope (which pay Amazon the same) to be in as much competition as possible, because that encourages more purchases in the future.
It's interesting when you consider Amazon's history, and how they were the first big name to leave up the negative customer reviews posted on the books they sold.
I didn't know about that!
Yeah, was way back when they first went public. Everyone said they were crazy, but Bezos made a point at the time about how it was better for the customer, so they could try and get a more balanced view before purchasing.
In fairness, that was when they were only selling books, so the onus for crap content was on the authors - not Amazon. Bit different now that they're a marketplace with all manner of third party sellers and cheap shit being sold on there, and them taking a slice from everything.
Not sure about that. Sure, you might drive up your short term sales if consumers think they're getting a great 5* product at a bargain. But in the long run, your customers will be disappointed by the quality and turn away from the platform. I hear more and more complaints about fake products being delivered, service degrading and real brands being drowned in the search results with Wish/Temu-like rubbish on Amazon.
I am still a regular customers at Amazon and I even still pay for the Prime membership but my shopping behavior has changed a lot over the years. Instead of buying expensive stuff like TVs, notebooks, sport equipment etc. I nowadays mostly buy cheap stuff due to the "free" shipping. Super glue, adapters, a cable here and there, little kitchen supplies etc.
I don't trust Amazon anymore for bigger things which from they'd profit the most.
Also Prime memberships are questioned more and more across my friends and family. And I think fake ratings are one important aspect for that. Among others like treating their employees like shit, having a horrible person as CEO, etc.
I've severely reduced my purchases from Amazon in the last couple of years, in good part because of all the crappy crap they sell, it's hard to find stuff using search, and it's hard to trust the quality of what they sell. They've become ebay with faster shipping.
I find it easier to trust eBay, actually.
I also find it easier to trust eBay. It's not perfect by any means, but overall it's a better shopping experience than Amazon. Hard to pin down why exactly, because 90% of both sites is the same cheap stuff. It just feels like eBay isn't as aggressive in pushing me towards a specific item it wants me to buy, so I have an easier time finding what I actually want/need. I guess it's because Amazon always wants you to buy from them rather than a marketplace seller, while eBay doesn't care which seller you buy from as long as you buy something, and you're more likely to purchase from someone if you find the correct item?
Some time ago, I basically relegated Amazon to nothing but a search engine.
Let's say I want to buy a certain item; I do a general search online for what I want; inevitably the first 5-10 search results are a listing on Amazon. I go ahead and read reviews. I notice specs and branding info. That's it.
From there, if the store isn't near me physically (so I just go in person), I just go to the actual brand vendor and purchase directly from them instead.
- Prices are literally either the same or cheaper direct from the brand.
- the product is the real thing.
- returns if needed, and customer service is always easier/better.
- Amazon does not get my money.... (actually maybe this should be number one)
May seem convoluted but I have been burned so many times with fake items, with used items when they were supposed to be new, with no real savings, constant shipping problems, etc. that Amazon as a vendor has become basically nothing but junk to me, compared to how they operated even 10 years ago.
Meantime, I spend some of my happy time back in brick and mortar bookstores, record shops, etc. and enjoy getting undamaged items to my heart's desire. 😊
Hell, Aliexpress sells a lot of the same crap for way less.
Yeah but with much slower shipping and I wouldn't expect working conditions in China to be any better than in US / EU amazon logistic centers.
But it's not a problem for the platform, it's a problem for the buyer, same with YouTube dislikes, it's wise for their business model, I really doubt a fake review is bad for Amazon
Really? I think it’s not helping an online store if it’s review system can’t be trusted.
People still fall for obvious online scams, crypto bots and email phishing, and you think there aren't enough people won't fall for fake reviews? Amazon has great damage control, they'll most likely offer mad users deals they can't refuse to prevent them from writing a bad review. I've been offered same product or a close enough product for free when I complained to Amazon support.
Amazon isn't some startup that few bad news can take down anymore. They'll say they investigated themselves, make a pr statement that they banned thousands of fake accounts and people will eat it up. It can keep expanding in new markets and keep the bad reviews rolling in while some mad customers scream into the void.
Of course they calculate quite well if it is worth the effort to get rid of fake reviews. I definitely think that they are something that Amazon would eradicate right now if they could do so easily. So as the quantity and quality of fake reviews is bound to rise with recent technological developments, the scales might tip into the direction of them having to do more about it. Because offering good deals as apology is not something that they’d be happy to do for more and more people.
It’s not so much the fake reviews, as the very honest and bluntly negative reviews. That gets in the way of Amazon making a cut off of sellers offloading useless crap onto their customers, and those are the reviews I think they will be purging.
A platform driven by customers, I would say this has direct impact for Amazon too, if it impacts the customer.
Is there such a thing as web of trust for reviews? (Haven't read the full article, my apologies if that's mentioned)
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NEW YORK (AP) — Some of the most used platforms for travel and online shopping said Tuesday they’re going to team up to battle fake reviews.
Much of the problem is fueled by brokers who solicit fake customer reviews through social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps and other channels in exchange for money, free items or other benefits.
Last year, it also sued the administrators of more than 10,000 Facebook groups that it alleged were coordinating bogus reviews in exchange for money or free products.
Becky Foley, Tripadvisor’s vice president for Trust & Safety, said in a statement included in the news release that combating operators behind fake reviews will be “an immediate area of focus” for the coalition.
“These actors often operate outside of jurisdictions with a legal framework to shut down fraudulent activity, making robust cooperation even more important,” Foley said.
The companies said the coalition is a result conversations that came out of a “Fake Reviews” conference that was organized by Tripadvisor and held last year in San Francisco.
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