Amazon Files Lawsuit Against Paid Review Companies

[Kevind88]

Amazon is going after paid review companies. About time...

https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/05/03/read-amazons-lawsuit-against-paid-review-companies

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

http://images.internetretailer.com/IR/2016/050216_Amazon_FakeReview_Lawsuit.pdf

There are only three sites targeted in the suit, but hopefully this will hint at things to come, namely getting rid of the "In exchange for an honest review" BS.

 

[Deleted35442]

Whine all you want. Amazon is the only winner here. Not you. If you're at the size these merchants are you'd probably be buying these fake reviews. This market far extends beyond Amazon and extends into everything from Yelp reviews to paid Facebook/Twitter/YouTube followers. This is also last year's news.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-sues-to-block-fake-reviews-on-its-site/

Nobody said the game was fair. Your competitors know this already.

 

[Kevind88]

You can use http://fakespot.com to see how many fake reviews the listing has. Very helpful when making a purchase.

 

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[Vigilante]

Whine all you want. Amazon is the only winner here. Not you. If you're at the size these merchants are you'd probably be buying these fake reviews. This market far extends beyond Amazon and extends into everything from Yelp reviews to paid Facebook/Twitter/YouTube followers. This is also last year's news.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-sues-to-block-fake-reviews-on-its-site/

Nobody said the game was fair. Your competitors know this already.

False.

I win.

My competitors use fake reviews. I don't. They now can't sleep at night. I can.

[HASHTAG]#winning[/HASHTAG]

 

[Deleted35442]

False.

I win.

My competitors use fake reviews. I don't. They now can't sleep at night. I can.

[HASHTAG]#winning[/HASHTAG]

Okay, Mr. Politics Phobist.

I don't know what you do, nor care what you do. Whether true or not, it's one empirical example.

Products with more social proof generate more sales. An obvious capped/scripted review posted by some amateur will obviously raise red flags. If done properly, your competitors always win. The guy with 90 quality, real by all appearance reviews will always win against the guy with 10 genuine reviews.

Your [HASHTAG]#winning[/HASHTAG] is therefore moot, irrelevant. Go up against a guy with better convincing social proof than you: you'll lose. You're doing a disservice to this whole community saying otherwise. Our illusion of social proof of our hoax app had us featured in GQ, Vice, VentureBeat, NY Daily News, Washington Post, etc. It works, if you do it right, and you'll always have the upper hand. People post constantly on Craigslist and others to have Yelp Elite users give them glowing reviews of their business. You can police it all you want like Amazon is trying to do. It won't go away. Lastly, I sleep just fine.

Update: Lol this. http://how-to-post-fake-reviews-on-amazon.blogspot.com/

 

[SEBASTlAN]

http://images.internetretailer.com/IR/2016/050216_Amazon_FakeReview_Lawsuit.pdf

There are only three sites targeted in the suit, but hopefully this will hint at things to come, namely getting rid of the "In exchange for an honest review" BS.

Exactly, theres way more than 3, and along with fiverr this problem will be around for a while.

 

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[TTG SS]

IMO, the true review groups that leave unbiased reviews are not a bad thing.

Many of the reviewers do write high quality reviews and often leave images/videos. This helps give you a true idea of what the product is really like, and not just what it looks like in the "enhanced photos".

I think straight up paid/fake reviews are unethical and not worth doing, but I believe the legitimate review groups do provide some value to the shoppers.

 

[amp0193]

IMO, the true review groups that leave unbiased reviews are not a bad thing.

Many of the reviewers do write high quality reviews and often leave images/videos. This helps give you a true idea of what the product is really like, and not just what it looks like in the "enhanced photos".

I think straight up paid/fake reviews are unethical and not worth doing, but I believe the legitimate review groups do provide some value to the shoppers.

The only "honest" review is one done by an impartial party who paid full price for your product.

Review groupies know the expectation is to leave 5-stars, and the over whelming majority of them do just that.

In this way, I think it does a dis-service to the consumer.


That being said, I use groups anyways, just to gain that initial traction on my listings. 30-40 units or so. I don't use the same groups each time, and I sleep just fine.

 

[TTG SS]

The only "honest" review is one done by an impartial party who paid full price for your product.

Review groupies know the expectation is to leave 5-stars, and the over whelming majority of them do just that.

In this way, I think it does a dis-service to the consumer.


That being said, I use groups anyways, just to gain that initial traction on my listings. 30-40 units or so. I don't use the same groups each time, and I sleep just fine.

I would agree many do leave biased "unbiased" reviews, lol. I still stand by that the pictures and videos do add some value for the customers.

Still I think if not abused then it is well within the TOS. IMO, the review groups are different then outright paid reviews which to my understanding manipulate the system and show as "verified reviews", as if the products were bought at full price.

 

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