I received this item free/discount in exchange for my honest review.

[AllenCrawley]

Interesting read:

http://consumerist.com/2016/02/08/i...ight-latest-wave-of-fake-compensated-reviews/


Notable:

Revieworrhea
THE CURIOUS CASE OF “ANDREA”
In one week in January, a reviewer named “Andrea” wrote up approximately 200 5-star opinions, including reviews for cases for at least 14 different phones:

Out of curiosity, we looked at what else these users had reviewed, and every single one of them with a public profile appears to have spent an inordinate amount of time writing up their supposedly honest feelings about dozens of products — a day.

We looked at the list of reviews since Jan. 1 for each of these users and found that they averaged more than 400 reviews each in just those few weeks. The fewest was around 100 reviews since Jan. 1, while one user managed to somehow crank out approximately 950 reviews in a single month.

Assuming eight hours of sleep per day, that’s nearly two reviews an hour for every single waking hour, every day of the week for 31 days.

So what are these people reviewing? Apparently anything they can get at a deep discount in exchange for a review.

 

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[ddall]

This is a great topic, and one that is of interest to me as Amazon seller. These reviews come into play strategically, however they are being used inappropriately by the unwashed masses of Amazon sellers jumping into the fray.

When I initially started on this platform, my reviews were mostly organic, and being from Canada the 'friends and family' option was of little use. It certainly was more difficult then, but in that era (not too long ago) having a massive number of reviews over your competitors was a major competitive advantage. Now of course, this is a moot point, and the effect on conversion between 100-500 reviews is not what is used to be,

In the modern landscape and for most sellers, only two parties benefit from the mass giveaways: paid review services, and the reviewers receiving the discounted product. New sellers PAYING hundreds of $$ for these services and giving away hundreds of products are doing themselves no favors. Firstly, the A9 algorithm (Amazon's search algo) is giving significantly less weight to discounted sales in terms of sticking organic ranking. Super URL's are, essentially dead. There has been no official announcement, but like Google a few years ago with SEO updates, Amazon is changing dials and levers behind the curtain, removing the efficacy of these grey hat strategies. These tactics worked 1 year ago and more, but they are not any longer (thankfully). If you go this route, you will be out thousands of dollars, hundreds of products and be left with little effect on ranking. Most of the reviews are shitty, useless one liners, and you furthermore risk trolls buying your products and hijacking your very own listing (the paid groups are swimming with these sharks now) with your products. Don't support those paid services (I've used three different ones, I've used none, I've used my own list, I've tried numerous tactics) you are only taking resources out of your business and putting it in their pocket.

Here is the strategy for launching a new product: Take the thousands of $$ in paid review service fees and product COGS you were planning to spend/giveup, and get the best photos you can afford (you better have differentiated and customized as well, as this is the only way to win on Amazon going forward). Next, get 30 QUALITY reviews. That is it, 30, DETAILED reviews, with as many images, videos and long thought out discussion on the product you can, ensure that seems genuine and not canned. Use some of the top reviewers (video/image only)if need be, they do help a little with conversions based on my testing (speaking of which, https://amzsplit.com/is a new Amazon split testing service for those interested, I have yet to try). Quality OVER quanity. People actually read reviews, not just look at the number of them, remember? Once you get to this number of reviews crank PPC like crazy. Don't focus on ACOS, just get your ad showing for every relevant keyword. You need some reviews to seed the listing so people are more inclined to click the amazon ad and give your listing a perusal. This is what will kick up your ranking, PPC. This is what the A9 is giving massive weight to now, what keyword results get clicked, and what converts. Run PPC at a loss, it is about getting ranking not ROI on adspend. It takes TIME. Remember, none of this will work if your 'me too' product sucks, your images suck, and your offer sucks. Review COUNT is no longer a major competitive advantage (on that note, remember, the only sustainable competitive advantage is your ability to learn faster than the competition). Even if you lose with your ACOS metrics, if you are still making conversions for those words, you will get ranking. Of course have your autoresponders set up with email sequence, website, list signups email etc, the usual things.

Look, 200 shitty discounted one liner reviews do nothing. Just look around amazon at the graveyard of failed products with hundreds of reviews and BSR's 90K+. It's crazy! Guy's remember, if it is so easy (pick prodcut, send to AMZ, get 200 reviews and BAM, $50K/mo) and everyone can do it, the party will not last, you are not building anything, there is no value creation just PRODUCT SPAM.

Most of my products convert no better at 500 reviews then they did at 60 reviews. It's about having a compelling offer, with quality reviews.

Check out http://fakespot.com/, just put in the amazon product and it will give you estimate of how many are fake reviews.

 

[AllenCrawley]

What I find interesting in the article I posted above it that it starts with a link to an example of a phone case with 11 reviews. I checked it and it only had 1 three star review. Further down the article we read the following...

"After we brought the questionable reviews for Lumia 650 case to Amazon’s attention, some of the reviews were taken down. As of now, only one of the ten reviews from compensated users remains. Interestingly, it’s the only one that did not give the case five stars.

“We do not allow paid reviews and terminate accounts that abuse the system or violate our guidelines,” an Amazon rep tells Consumerist. “That being said, the vast majority of reviews on Amazon are authentic, helping millions of customers make informed buying decisions every day. Our goal is to make reviews as useful as possible for customers.”

Is Amazon actually doing anything proactive to prevent the spread of these dubious reviews? Aside from pointing to the recent legal actions taken against allegedly fake reviewers, the company would not provide any information on any efforts to track and/or filter users with questionable motives, though a source at the company did say it is aware of the problem and how the presence of apparently fake reviews hurts real customers and Amazon’s image."

 

[IGP]

Interesting read:

http://consumerist.com/2016/02/08/i...ight-latest-wave-of-fake-compensated-reviews/


Notable:

Revieworrhea
THE CURIOUS CASE OF “ANDREA”
In one week in January, a reviewer named “Andrea” wrote up approximately 200 5-star opinions, including reviews for cases for at least 14 different phones:

Out of curiosity, we looked at what else these users had reviewed, and every single one of them with a public profile appears to have spent an inordinate amount of time writing up their supposedly honest feelings about dozens of products — a day.

We looked at the list of reviews since Jan. 1 for each of these users and found that they averaged more than 400 reviews each in just those few weeks. The fewest was around 100 reviews since Jan. 1, while one user managed to somehow crank out approximately 950 reviews in a single month.

Assuming eight hours of sleep per day, that’s nearly two reviews an hour for every single waking hour, every day of the week for 31 days.

So what are these people reviewing? Apparently anything they can get at a deep discount in exchange for a review.

Ahhh, the power of Fiverr and MTurk!

 

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[ExCubeCommando]

Not sure about that.

Some of my bad reviews (the few I've read because I rarely read them) for TMF say something like "I'm not sure how this book got all these great reviews, must be DeMarco's millionaire buddies, or he paid for them."

I think people are generally skeptical.

I guess they didn't comprehend the part of the book that states (paraphrasing) just reading this book won't make you rich.

 

[Yoda]

A truly great product will earn its own reviews. Customer care helps or hurts, too.

I bought a case for a G3 on Amazon, and I had perhaps the most wonderful experience I have ever had in buying anything online.

Opened it, and there were two things:

1. The product.
2. A (brief) handwritten thank you, and an elegant business card with instructions to leave an Amazon review on the back, if I felt like it.

Damn sure I did.

The product itself was exactly what I needed, nothing more or less. But, the basic customer care of a simple note (with my handwritten name) and instructions was plenty enough for me to know they took even 1 extra ounce of effort into their funnel.

I liked the buying experience more because of it.

For a <$10 item, 5 star there all day. Obviously, I'd be a lot more critical if I was buying something of much greater expense.

Had it come a couple days later and in basic wrapping, I would have done nothing more than used the case and moved on.

 

[Growth & Learn]

Everyone who has products on Amazon knows what this means.

Companies/entrepreneurs are trying to game the review system using services such as SnagShout. Of course "game" is a subjective term, but from my point of view (which is rarely a consensus viewpoint) any reviews which contain this verbiage I potentially disqualify from my buying pool. Not just the review, but the product entirely.

This practice is pretty much standard in the world of supplements. And I'm sure it works fabulously.

But it doesn't work for me.

Now I scan the reviews and look for this verbiage. If I find it, I'm less likely to buy the product.

As soon as I see a product with a shit ton reviews followed up with "I received this item free in exchange for my honest review" or "I received this item at a discount in exchange for my honest review" I immediately have my BS meter sounded.

More than likely I click NEXT.

I speculate this practice (which again, I'm sure is a profitable marketing tool) has a limited shelf life in terms of effectiveness, and legality at Amazon.

Just an FYI from a minority point of view from the standpoint of a business owner who thinks the product is just as important as the marketing. When I see this phrase, I get the hint that your product just isn't good enough to warrant real reviews that don't need to be bribed by discounts or freebies.

Feel free to discuss.

100% agree from my perspective when I'm buying products for myself.

The average consumer is as educated as you are though MJ. Most people don't read that closely. The risk reward ratio isn't balanced yet.
Lower risk: Turn off a few educated buyers who read
vs.
High Reward Lots of reviews drastically increases conversions on Amazon.

 

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[biophase]

You don't have to follow the AMZ selling herd to be successful on Amazon.

Here's proof below. I have a #1 new release in a very competitive category. Notice I only have 1 review. [HASHTAG]#4000[/HASHTAG] BSR, #41 rank in my category.

This launched on January 18th. I got my first review last Friday. I went 3 weeks without a single review and people were buying.

No giveaways or discounted sales or PPC. No special launching, just list it and let it sell. Build your brand.

 

[AllenCrawley]

100% agree from my perspective when I'm buying products for myself.

The average consumer is as educated as you are though MJ. Most people don't read that closely. The risk reward ratio isn't balanced yet.
Lower risk: Turn off a few educated buyers who read
vs.
High Reward Lots of reviews drastically increases conversions on Amazon.

I disagree with your high reward statement. I agree with ddall and biophase in that I'm not seeing a noticeable increase (let alone drastic) in conversions between 30 and 200. Biophase sells a product in a highly competitive space. Has only one review and has achieved the coveted "#1 New Release" badge.

 

[amp0193]

giving significantly less weight to discounted sales in terms of sticking organic ranking. Super URL's are, essentially dead.

Not picking on you here, just curious:

Is this from your actual experience, or are you just re-stating what you've heard?

Discounted sales definitely still count. Source: I did a giveaway in a medium competition niche last week, and ended up in #2 spot. Product was sold at $0.99.

In this case, I had all the reviewers manually search for my product, but I have friends who are still effectively using super URLs with success

 

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[Growth & Learn]

I disagree with your high reward statement. I agree with ddall and biophase in that I'm not seeing a noticeable increase (let alone drastic) in conversions between 30 and 200. Biophase sells a product in a highly competitive space. Has only one review and has achieved the coveted "#1 New Release" badge.

Here's some further data on this. This is what I built from premise from http://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/customer-reviews-conversion-rates/

Nothing is 100% certain in marketing though as I'm sure you know.

 

[AllenCrawley]

Here's some further data on this. This is what I built from premise from http://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/customer-reviews-conversion-rates/

Nothing is 100% certain in marketing though as I'm sure you know.

That article is two years old. Lots has changed. (disclosure: I saw the date and did not read the article)

What is your personal experience?

 

[ddall]

Not picking on you here, just curious:

Is this from your actual experience, or are you just re-stating what you've heard?

Discounted sales definitely still count. Source: I did a giveaway in a medium competition niche last week, and ended up in #2 spot. Product was sold at $0.99.

In this case, I had all the reviewers manually search for my product, but I have friends who are still effectively using super URLs with success

Fair question. And to be honest, much like SEO with Google, it is hard (impossible) to conclusively determine anything given the unending number of variables and not knowing the precise facts of the algo. Anyway, I launched two products with a super URL, giving away between 150 and 200 units (sell for $50 each). Same niche, very similar products. I saw minimal movement compared to previous launches where keywords spiked sky high quickly. It was not until I turned on PPC and some time passed that things started to really move ( was it PPC or was it the giveaway? What is the algo's delay? How important are past products, etc.). These were very expensive launches. Shortly thereafter, I launched 3 new products, with the previously described strategy (no service, no super URL, only a few, quality giveaways). Quality reviews, direct linked, turned on PPC. Same niche, very competitive keywords for some, and within the same or shorter time frame was ranking up high. I saved $1000's on the later launches.

Other higher end sellers have anecdotally noted the same thing, a weakening of the super URL and giveaways. Just watch, the algo will continue to correct for this gaming of the system.

 

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[amp0193]

Fair question. And to be honest, much like SEO with Google, it is hard (impossible) to conclusively determine anything given the unending number of variables and not knowing the precise facts of the algo. Anyway, I launched two products with a super URL, giving away between 150 and 200 units (sell for $50 each). Same niche, very similar products. I saw minimal movement compared to previous launches where keywords spiked sky high quickly. It was not until I turned on PPC and some time passed that things started to really move ( was it PPC or was it the giveaway? What is the algo's delay? How important are past products, etc.). These were very expensive launches. Shortly thereafter, I launched 3 new products, with the previously described strategy. Quality reviews, direct linked, turned on PPC. Same niche, very competitive keywords for some, and within the same or shorter time frame was ranking up high. I saved $1000's on the later launches.

Other higher end sellers have anecdotally noted the same thing, a weakening of the super URL and giveaways. Just watch, the algo will continue to correct for this gaming of the system.

Cool, thanks for the insight from your personal experience. Zonblast and Virallaunch both have proprietary URLs that are supposedly able to create unique ids that work better than most superURLs. It's supposed to be akin to someone manually searching for the product. I haven't tried either personally.

 

[Growth & Learn]

That article is two years old. Lots has changed. (disclosure: I saw the date and did not read the article)

What is your personal experience?

Good question...you may want to read the article.

Are you saying that the algorithm Amazon uses doesn't take into effect reviews anymore in rankings? That would be entirely new to me if so.

More importantly, lets talk consumer psychology and how buyers make decisions. Because this is equally if not more important.

A basic tenet of human psychology is when in doubt look to see what other people are doing. It's a proven psychological principal. I initially learned this from books like Cashvertising. I've also tested this successfully in my own businesses.

That's why testimonials and reviews work so well in advertisements and sales.

 

[biophase]

Are you saying that the algorithm Amazon uses doesn't take into effect reviews anymore in rankings? That would be entirely new to me if so.

Actually I don't think that Amazon EVER used the number of reviews as a measure of ranking. Where did you read that reviews influenced the search rank?

 

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[biophase]

Good question...you may want to read the article.

Also, nowhere in this article did it mention Amazon. The article was citing reviews in general for ecommerce stores.

I assume that we are still talking about reviews on the Amazon platform in this thread?

 

[JAJT]

Actually I don't think that Amazon EVER used the number of reviews as a measure of ranking. Where did you read that reviews influenced the search rank?

I don't think they ever have either. Or if they do - it's a very small weighting in the overall ranking.

I think the general consensus was reviews were needed to increase conversions through social proof.

 

[Growth & Learn]

Also, nowhere in this article did it mention Amazon. The article was citing reviews in general for ecommerce stores.

I assume that we are still talking about reviews on the Amazon platform in this thread?

It mentions Amazon 5x in the article

Look specifically under the subhead
How customer reviews impact conversions


Edit....By the way, if you know specific information that I don't I'm always up for learning. That's what I'm hear for.

 

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[Growth & Learn]

I don't think they ever have either. Or if they do - it's a very small weighting in the overall ranking.

I think the general consensus was reviews were needed to increase conversions through social proof.

Yeah true it's definitely social proof but from everything I've read... # of reviews is one of the ranking factors in the A9 algorithm.

What % is it in the algorithm's ranking factor?...that's what I'm not 100% certain on.

Does anybody have clearer data on the % breakdowns?

 

[AllenCrawley]

Good news!

No more incentivized reviews allowed.

https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/abpto3jt7fhb5oc

 

[TKDTyler]

Good news!

No more incentivized reviews allowed.

https://www.amazon.com/p/feature/abpto3jt7fhb5oc

I bet the owners of the review services are shitting more bricks than the actual Amazon sellers using these services. Their income mirrors that of the Google Panda update to affiliate marketers in the past. Full-time income to 0 in less than a day.

Just another reason to maintain control of your business.

 

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[InnovateDesign]

I do not think many consumers looks so deeply into reviews. All they see is a 4.5-star review and buy something.

It is maybe the 5% that really pay attention to the bad reviews.

Correct me if I am wrong?

 

[Interesting Life]

I guess when it comes to the bottom line you would want to know the ratio of people that are aware of and turned off by the practice to those that aren't and are motivated to buy from these types of reviews.

 

[MitchC]

I do not think many consumers looks so deeply into reviews. All they see is a 4.5-star review and buy something.

It is maybe the 5% that really pay attention to the bad reviews.

Correct me if I am wrong?

It's more for ranking your item higher, like SEO, people click the ones at the top on the first page

 

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[Tony I]

Doesn't apply to books though. You can still send ARCS.

These changes will apply to all product categories other than books, as Amazon has always allowed advance copies of books to be distributed, the retailer notes. Amazon also says it has other ideas about making Vine more useful in the future, but didn’t go into detail."-techcrunch

 

[MJ DeMarco]

So now that this policy has been eradicated by Amazon for some time, what's the verdict? Has it helped you? Made things easier? Harder?

 

[JAJT]

I haven't done much since the change in my own Amazon business but I do know that all the major review sites basically changed their review policy to get in line with Amazon's T&C's.

I haven't spent much time looking into it but it generally seems like they still do paid giveaways/discounts just like before, and simply told everyone in the review groups that they are "not required" to leave a review any longer but that reviews are helpful and good things to do should they "feel the desire to". They may or may not have also nixed the "I received this in exchange for a review" since it's no longer an actual requirement to receive the product at discount. Not sure on that though.

I know one of the bigger guys in that space (I think it was seller labs) said they even went so far as to work with amazon's policy team directly to come up with a solution that wouldn't get their users in trouble.

In short: I don't really think it changed much in practice. May have scared away a lot of the smaller fish though. Also Amazon did a large cull of reviews which may have disparaged some folks. Which goes to show that even when you follow Amazon's rules at the time, they can change the rules and hold you accountable in retrospect.

I've also heard rumors that amazon has heavily discounted the algorithmic weighting given to discounted products & the associated reviews so it may no longer be possible (or harder) to get ranking and kw boosts through giveaways and discounts, even if you do get the actual review for it.

 

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[Envision]

It's helped me - flushed out all the crappy products that just had marketing dollars being pumped behind them and allowed mine to move to the top with hardly any marketing push and 0 incentivized reviews.

 

[amp0193]

So now that this policy has been eradicated by Amazon for some time, what's the verdict? Has it helped you? Made things easier? Harder?

I like it better this way. Makes it harder for the competition to get a ton of fake reviews.

I still do small (30-50 units) $1 giveaways to launch products and secure search rank, I just don't ask people to leave reviews anymore. I'll just get the reviews organically with email follow up sequences.

My launch is primarily keep the sale price at slightly above break-even, until my search rank is where I want it, then I raise price. This, plus very aggressive amazon ppc and ams headline ads, does very well for me.