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Fake reviews also contribute to more fake and low quality products being sold. It looks like Amazon simply doesn't care. https://thehustle.co/amazon-fake-revie

Fake reviews also contribute to more fake and low quality products being sold. It looks like Amazon simply doesn't care. https://thehustle.co/amazon-fake-reviews https://thehustle.co/amazon-fake-reviews FTA: "One stay-at-home mom from Kentucky told me she makes $200-300 per month leaving positive reviews for things like sleep masks, light bulbs, and AV cables." “Do you actually like the products?” I asked. “I don’t know,” she wrote. “I never use them.”

heavyset_go 7y ago
I posted about this on HN recently[1]. Within the last month, I've been getting an increasing amount of native ads on different platforms for "Free [Product]!". If you engage the ad, you find out that the ad-purchaser wants you to buy the advertised product and leave a positive review for it on Amazon, after which they'll refund you for the cost of the product. Some of these items have thousands of positive reviews[1], which is misleading to consumers who rely on honest reviews to guide their purchasing behavior. Also, it is almost comical how difficult it is to reach out to Amazon about this issue as a user. In the end, I just contacted my state Attorney General's Consumer Protection division and the FTC. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22388067 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22388067
- yomly 7y ago
  If you have examples you can try sending it to jeff@amazon.com and it will (eventually) get triaged as a sev-b ticket if you're lucky or it is an interesting enough issue
  - heavyset_go 7y ago
    I tried that, but got no response. Might be because of my ProtonMail address, though. If anyone has an address I can use to reach out to an actual person, I'd be more than happy to use it to report these sellers.
- pg_is_a_butt 7y ago
  Seems like it would be more productive to have them buy your competitors' products and leave bad reviews.
- gowld 7y ago
  Are these legit sites / apps you are reading? How are you finding them? Another approach might be to reach out to the ad network to complain about these illegal ads. (Fake paid reviews are illegal ads, and soliciting illegal activity is illegal.) The solution here is probably to convince authorities to prosecute the individuals are accepting bribes for fake reviews. Amazon should be happy to cooperate.
  - heavyset_go 7y ago
    > Are these legit sites / apps you are reading? How are you finding them? They are mostly on Facebook. They're native ads[1] because I have various layers of ad blocking implemented, and only native ads get through. > The solution here is probably to convince authorities to prosecute the individuals are accepting bribes for fake reviews I'd have to disagree. There needs to be incentives against unscrupulous business practices by sellers who are arguably the bad actors in this situation, and not the unsophisticated consumer caught up in a confusing offer. [1] https://developers.facebook.com/docs/audience-network/native-ads/ https://developers.facebook.com/docs/audience-network/native...
Nasrudith 7y ago
I'll bite - how would them caring make any difference in terms of quality of "fake" reviews? The way I see it the problem is unsolvable. There is no mathematical way to absolutely determine truth of reviews and it is fundamentally an arms race. No measure they could do could keep it true and free of deception.
- ethanbond 7y ago
  For sure. This is why we let financial institutions launder money, fund rogue states, and aid in tax evasion with no fear of legal consequence. Because otherwise it’s hard for them to operate. No measure of KYC could keep it the financial system completely free of illicit activity, after all.
- pauljurczak 7y ago
  The problem is mostly solvable. Review quality went downhill when Amazon decided to let 3rd party sellers run rampant, in order to boost their margins. A decade ago or earlier, when they had a handle on their supply chain, the reviews were pretty reliable. They can always go back to that model, but the smell of a greenback is too intoxicating for this to happen. Notice that Walmart, Newegg and other wannabees are going down the same route. Typical cases of crapification of the late stage, overfinancialized capitalism.
  - Marsymars 7y ago
    > Notice that Walmart, Newegg and other wannabees are going down the same route. Best Buy Canada now too. It's dramatically worse to use the Best Buy Canada website than the Best Buy USA one.
  - nickjj 7y ago
    > Notice that Walmart, Newegg and other wannabees are going down the same route. It's sad to hear Newegg is a part of this now. I haven't bought computer parts in 6 years but Newegg was where I typically got most things from (and sometimes Amazon back then too). I wish I lived near a Microcenter.
- schemescape 7y ago
dpacmittal 7y ago
Amazon's strategy is to create mistrust for any other product other than its in house brands.
Shivetya 7y ago
Well when Amazon takes steps to reduce fraud people scream to high hell about how unfair it is to the small business trying to sell product. Take the case of Apple and Amazon working a deal where Apple products can only be sold by Apple or whom Apple authorizes. I know the headache of trying to find a Silpat cooking mat, the number of look alike fakes is astounding and worse they use the name brand when they clearly are not that manufacturer. So the only recourse is to have a setup similar to the Amazon and Apple deal. Anyone wishing to sell a branded product must provide proof to Amazon which includes the manufacturer backing the claim that they are authorized to sell that product. Not line, by product.
nomel 7y ago
After spending $50 on a "Recommended" and "Prime" counterfeit PS4 controller (proven by a tear down), I no longer buy electronics from Amazon. With a brick and mortar, some sort of incoming quality control still seems to be in place.

heavyset_go 7y ago

I posted about this on HN recently[1]. Within the last month, I've been getting an increasing amount of native ads on different platforms for "Free [Product]!". If you engage the ad, you find out that the ad-purchaser wants you to buy the advertised product and leave a positive review for it on Amazon, after which they'll refund you for the cost of the product. Some of these items have thousands of positive reviews[1], which is misleading to consumers who rely on honest reviews to guide their purchasing behavior. Also, it is almost comical how difficult it is to reach out to Amazon about this issue as a user. In the end, I just contacted my state Attorney General's Consumer Protection division and the FTC. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22388067 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22388067

yomly 7y ago
If you have examples you can try sending it to jeff@amazon.com and it will (eventually) get triaged as a sev-b ticket if you're lucky or it is an interesting enough issue
- heavyset_go 7y ago
  I tried that, but got no response. Might be because of my ProtonMail address, though. If anyone has an address I can use to reach out to an actual person, I'd be more than happy to use it to report these sellers.
pg_is_a_butt 7y ago
Seems like it would be more productive to have them buy your competitors' products and leave bad reviews.
gowld 7y ago
Are these legit sites / apps you are reading? How are you finding them? Another approach might be to reach out to the ad network to complain about these illegal ads. (Fake paid reviews are illegal ads, and soliciting illegal activity is illegal.) The solution here is probably to convince authorities to prosecute the individuals are accepting bribes for fake reviews. Amazon should be happy to cooperate.
- heavyset_go 7y ago
  > Are these legit sites / apps you are reading? How are you finding them? They are mostly on Facebook. They're native ads[1] because I have various layers of ad blocking implemented, and only native ads get through. > The solution here is probably to convince authorities to prosecute the individuals are accepting bribes for fake reviews I'd have to disagree. There needs to be incentives against unscrupulous business practices by sellers who are arguably the bad actors in this situation, and not the unsophisticated consumer caught up in a confusing offer. [1] https://developers.facebook.com/docs/audience-network/native-ads/ https://developers.facebook.com/docs/audience-network/native...

Nasrudith 7y ago

I'll bite - how would them caring make any difference in terms of quality of "fake" reviews? The way I see it the problem is unsolvable. There is no mathematical way to absolutely determine truth of reviews and it is fundamentally an arms race. No measure they could do could keep it true and free of deception.

ethanbond 7y ago
For sure. This is why we let financial institutions launder money, fund rogue states, and aid in tax evasion with no fear of legal consequence. Because otherwise it’s hard for them to operate. No measure of KYC could keep it the financial system completely free of illicit activity, after all.
pauljurczak 7y ago
The problem is mostly solvable. Review quality went downhill when Amazon decided to let 3rd party sellers run rampant, in order to boost their margins. A decade ago or earlier, when they had a handle on their supply chain, the reviews were pretty reliable. They can always go back to that model, but the smell of a greenback is too intoxicating for this to happen. Notice that Walmart, Newegg and other wannabees are going down the same route. Typical cases of crapification of the late stage, overfinancialized capitalism.
- Marsymars 7y ago
  > Notice that Walmart, Newegg and other wannabees are going down the same route. Best Buy Canada now too. It's dramatically worse to use the Best Buy Canada website than the Best Buy USA one.
- nickjj 7y ago
  > Notice that Walmart, Newegg and other wannabees are going down the same route. It's sad to hear Newegg is a part of this now. I haven't bought computer parts in 6 years but Newegg was where I typically got most things from (and sometimes Amazon back then too). I wish I lived near a Microcenter.
schemescape 7y ago

dpacmittal 7y ago

Amazon's strategy is to create mistrust for any other product other than its in house brands.

Shivetya 7y ago

Well when Amazon takes steps to reduce fraud people scream to high hell about how unfair it is to the small business trying to sell product. Take the case of Apple and Amazon working a deal where Apple products can only be sold by Apple or whom Apple authorizes. I know the headache of trying to find a Silpat cooking mat, the number of look alike fakes is astounding and worse they use the name brand when they clearly are not that manufacturer. So the only recourse is to have a setup similar to the Amazon and Apple deal. Anyone wishing to sell a branded product must provide proof to Amazon which includes the manufacturer backing the claim that they are authorized to sell that product. Not line, by product.

nomel 7y ago

After spending $50 on a "Recommended" and "Prime" counterfeit PS4 controller (proven by a tear down), I no longer buy electronics from Amazon. With a brick and mortar, some sort of incoming quality control still seems to be in place.