4 ms·

WeTab boss caught posting fake 5-star Amazon reviews, resigns

14 points by lotusleaf1987 16y ago

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
powrtoch 16y ago
I'd be interesting in knowing how this was caught. I was under the impression that this sort of thing goes on pretty often. I certainly don't assign a particularly high credibility to anonymous online rave reviews.
- lotusleaf1987 16y ago
  On a related note, the Whole Foods CEO got caught in 2007 anonymously disparaging his business rival, Wild Oats Market, on Yahoo message boards. Apparently it was a violation of Regulation FD, which bans selective disclosure of information: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/vindu/2007/07/11/whole-deception-ceo-of-whole-foods-used-fake-name-to-hype-stock-on-yahoo-message-board/ http://blogs.mercurynews.com/vindu/2007/07/11/whole-deceptio...
- nikosdimopoulos 16y ago
  It is amazing how much information certain people have on the Internet regarding themselves. A simple IP check could have done the trick, provided that it could be cross referenced with orders. So if the individual shopped from home, they know his IP address - then posted a review, and continued posting more reviews... there you go :) Sometimes reviews are pretty good to let you know what is going on with the particular product/service. It's a hit and miss though in most cases.
- binbasti 16y ago
  He used his own Amazon account and his real name was visible on the Amazon Wishlist. And, even more funny, his wife did the same thing. Here's the original blog entry (in German, scroll down for some screenshots): http://gutjahr.biz/blog/2010/10/wedepp/ http://gutjahr.biz/blog/2010/10/wedepp/
kno 16y ago
Given the fact that reviews make or breaks products, companies now have great incentives in playing the reviews game. I have seen so many crappy products being praise by crazy reviews with generic theme like "I bought it for my son, my husband and he loves it". High profile catch like this will make it harder for companies to just spin their way trough crappy products.
Sukotto 16y ago
Always keep in mind the following general rule: If having it headline a news article would damage your reputation or your business, don't do it.
darwinGod 16y ago
Reminded me of this thread- about unethical things people did to get their startup off the ground. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1589257 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1589257 Going through some of the things people confessed doing, this almost seems mild! Spamming(quite a lot),Free Porn(Bit Torrent), Crashing competitors server.. you name it!
lsc 16y ago
I am pretty surprised that he resigned. I mean, isn't this exactly what hired PR companies do, only with a little bit more denyability? I mean, it's certainly unethical... but I thought this sort of "push the line" thing was the intent behind hiring bizdev and sales types.

14 points by lotusleaf1987 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

I'd be interesting in knowing how this was caught. I was under the impression that this sort of thing goes on pretty often. I certainly don't assign a particularly high credibility to anonymous online rave reviews.

lotusleaf1987 16y ago
On a related note, the Whole Foods CEO got caught in 2007 anonymously disparaging his business rival, Wild Oats Market, on Yahoo message boards. Apparently it was a violation of Regulation FD, which bans selective disclosure of information: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/vindu/2007/07/11/whole-deception-ceo-of-whole-foods-used-fake-name-to-hype-stock-on-yahoo-message-board/ http://blogs.mercurynews.com/vindu/2007/07/11/whole-deceptio...
nikosdimopoulos 16y ago
It is amazing how much information certain people have on the Internet regarding themselves. A simple IP check could have done the trick, provided that it could be cross referenced with orders. So if the individual shopped from home, they know his IP address - then posted a review, and continued posting more reviews... there you go :) Sometimes reviews are pretty good to let you know what is going on with the particular product/service. It's a hit and miss though in most cases.
binbasti 16y ago
He used his own Amazon account and his real name was visible on the Amazon Wishlist. And, even more funny, his wife did the same thing. Here's the original blog entry (in German, scroll down for some screenshots): http://gutjahr.biz/blog/2010/10/wedepp/ http://gutjahr.biz/blog/2010/10/wedepp/

kno 16y ago

Given the fact that reviews make or breaks products, companies now have great incentives in playing the reviews game. I have seen so many crappy products being praise by crazy reviews with generic theme like "I bought it for my son, my husband and he loves it". High profile catch like this will make it harder for companies to just spin their way trough crappy products.

Sukotto 16y ago

Always keep in mind the following general rule: If having it headline a news article would damage your reputation or your business, don't do it.

darwinGod 16y ago

Reminded me of this thread- about unethical things people did to get their startup off the ground. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1589257 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1589257 Going through some of the things people confessed doing, this almost seems mild! Spamming(quite a lot),Free Porn(Bit Torrent), Crashing competitors server.. you name it!

lsc 16y ago

I am pretty surprised that he resigned. I mean, isn't this exactly what hired PR companies do, only with a little bit more denyability? I mean, it's certainly unethical... but I thought this sort of "push the line" thing was the intent behind hiring bizdev and sales types.