3 ms·

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 mathematic

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
Trust seems like the fundamental problem. I used to trust the people writing Amazon reviews but now I don’t. If I could filter reviews to those written by people I trust, then those reviews would still be valuable. It’s not a comprehensive solution since I probably don’t trust enough people to cover the range of products I’m interested in, but it could be better than the current mess. The limited scale might even be beneficial because I wouldn’t have to wade through hundreds of nearly identical products.

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

Trust seems like the fundamental problem. I used to trust the people writing Amazon reviews but now I don’t. If I could filter reviews to those written by people I trust, then those reviews would still be valuable. It’s not a comprehensive solution since I probably don’t trust enough people to cover the range of products I’m interested in, but it could be better than the current mess. The limited scale might even be beneficial because I wouldn’t have to wade through hundreds of nearly identical products.