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Apple removes ‘Fakespot’ app from iOS App Store following Amazon request
- sprite 5y agoThis has been a rule for a while. I believe it was added because of all the apps using the unofficial Instagram and Snapchat apis initially.
- JadeNB 5y agoI'd just like to highlight this: > According to Amazon, the company already has the necessary tools to identify and stop fake reviews, suggesting that third-party services that claim to do this “are mostly wrong.” I am certainly willing to believe that Amazon has all the necessary tools, but it's very clear that they don't care to use them.
- minsc__and__boo 5y agoIt also raises the question, "Why can't there be substitute apps/services on the Apple App store?" So what if Amazon can or even does do it? There should be multiple apps offering the same service available to Apple customers. This doesn't make sense.
- eagsalazar2 5y agoThat isn't their argument. They are arguing that any results that differ from their own ratings are false by definition because it is duplicative. If fakespot always gave the identical ratings, they'd have to make a different argument.
- kevin_thibedeau 5y agoAmazon doesn't officially acknowledge that any specific product listings are fakes. An app that exposes the truth will naturally be different from what Amazon claims.
- everyone 5y agoI dont know how, but I assume that all the fake shit being sold on amazon is very profitable for them. I assume they have a strong motivation to protect and foster all the fake shit, cus that's what they appear to be doing to the best of their ability (Reminds me of 'content-farm' videos on youtube) . Also, If its not profit, there must be some 'perverse incentive' at some level of the company to act as they do.
- maxcan 5y agoIts so bewildering to me that Amazon doesn't do this. People are catching on to the low quality of the reviews on amazon and once that credibility is gone, its never coming back. Their supply chain is a pretty strong moat but its not insurmountable.
- randallsquared 5y agoPeople have been saying this for a number of years, now, and Amazon only grows faster. Tools like this may have actually contributed to that growth, since they make shopping on Amazon safer, ironically.
- CamperBob2 5y agoAmazon has the same advantage that Microsoft had in the 90s: everybody else is even less competent.
- simondotau 5y agoI don’t agree. The advantage both had/have is a level of scale and brand inertia which makes it financially near-impossible for alternatives to grow large enough to compete.
- mynameisash 5y agoI was briefly in contact with folks in a team at Amazon who said they were working on fixing the fake review problem. I ultimately didn't pursue a role there because I just don't really trust Amazon as an employer. (I worked there previously and got burned badly.) Incidentally, I had also been in contact with Facebook about a role "combatting abuse" across their services. That loop was a bait and switch for standard ML (eg, improve video recommendations for users to keep their eyeballs on FB). I try to assume good intentions, but I'm constantly given evidence that there are no good intentions in these companies. I don't think Amazon really has any reason to combat fake reviews. And I know a good number of engineers and scientists there. It's a tractable problem.
- inlikealamb 5y agoProduct listing hijacks have been a known problem for years... and you can still do it today. A lot of the time I get something it comes with a business card offering a discount for a positive review... aliexpress reviews seem more reliable at this point.
- underseacables 5y agoThis is so depressing. Fakespot is an amazing app, I never buy anything off of Amazon without using it. Actions like this caused me to trust Amazon significantly less.
- xenocratus 5y agoI used it for a while until it got me wondering - what, exactly, is their business model? And why do I trust their judgement on how reliable reviews are? This is not to say that Amazon reviews are generally good, just saying that Fakespot might have an incentive to... tune their reviews of reviews :) so where's the Fakespot of Fakespot?
- warent 5y agoThey're excellent for curiosities now. I just bought linen bags with big dollar signs on them as props for a personal project. Amazon made it easy. So basically any time you need something where the concept of fakes doesn't matter or is removed entirely. Otherwise Amazon is a hulking pile of scams and garbage
- mccorrinall 5y agoLooks like they aren’t generating any revenue yet. According to crunchbase they received a 5.3m USD series A funding so far, which is gonna keep the company running for quite a while with less than ten employees. They most likely are trying to get users first, and then look money printing opportunities later. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fakespot/people https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fakespot/people
- strogonoff 5y agoConsidering FS is free and they are hiring, they must have some sort of monetization roadmap. My bet is either they become paid, they do paid whitelisting, or they provide some sort of sales intelligence to sellers. The first option is the best case scenario. In the latter cases, akin to Facebook, the actual customer would be sellers, charged based on the number of active users FS promises. ReviewMeta, on the other hand, is clearly donation based, and also seems more honest at the moment (e.g., not claiming to be some sort of “trusted advisor”, showing a big warning that it’s adjusted score is only an estimation).
- lucas_codes 5y agoCool, I didn't know about this. Will download on Google Play!
- SikoKinesis 5y agoMight not be up there much longer either sadly
- schmorptron 5y agoYou can always try the Amazon App Store :P
- syshum 5y agoThen I am sure they will release the APK or put it on another store since I do not have to use Play, unlike iOS
- sprite 5y agoGoogle Play has the same rule about accessing third party APIs and actually had it before Apple (I know because I’m perma banned from Google Play Development for violating this rule with an app I did)
- deregulateMed 5y agoDoesn't matter, you can still download APKs.
- lostmsu 5y agoOh my, it is good they don't know one of mine apps does, so it is not banned still after almost 10 years in Android Store.
- sprite 5y agoI think they only care if it's the API for a popular app or the API owner has complained. I know they will flag for IG and Snapchat private APIs.
- only_as_i_fall 5y agoThat's kinda outrageous. I know this is unrelated to reviews, but I got a product shipped by and from Amazon 2 weeks ago that was missing its original box but instead was in an unmarked box that still had a shipping label addressed to Amazon returns on it. Amazon gives so few shits about product quality it's baffling
- gizdan 5y agoThey give so few shits because we keep using them despite everything they do. The people need to put their money elsewhere for Amazon to get their act together.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- Cipater 5y agoBut you're going to buy from them again soon, aren't you?
- only_as_i_fall 5y agoIncreasingly the answer is no. Still though they have the best selection on certain things and a generous return policy.
- Spivak 5y agoI’m kinda confused about this. At Amazon’s size it’s easier for them to do this and then just fix mistake after the fact. Amazon has sent me the wrong items, lost them, had stuff damaged but always always fixed it immediately when I call support. I can’t honestly blame them for errors when they do so much business that 1 in a million problems happen daily.
- emsy 5y agoThese days it seems Apple is begging to be regulated. So much stuff where they either let through scams or boot off legitimate apps on a whim. If anyone followed the news in the EU, Vestager is openly discussing to do so. They should rather make a halfhearted step themselves to open up their platform or they will be forced to do a full step themselves. That's my prediction, as states start to realize the abusive practices Apple is currently using.
- r00fus 5y agoEverything you said about Apple seems more apt about Amazon.
- mhh__ 5y agoI feel notably unfree on an Apple product, which amazes me because my reference is Google products. The thing which struck me was when I tried to watch a film I've had on my PC hard drive for what must be 5 years now, but Apple won't let VLC ship the codec.
- Terretta 5y agoIs the codec and container available in MrMC or Infuse? https://apps.apple.com/us/app/infuse-7/id1136220934 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/infuse-7/id1136220934 Video: 3GP AVI ASF BDMV DIVX DVDMEDIA DVR-MS FLV ISO/IMG M2TS M4V MKV MOV MP4 MPEG MTS MXF OGM OGV TS VIDEO_TS WEBM WMV WTV I’d be curious what it is, if not. VLC is missing codecs on Windows store too: https://itigic.com/normal-vlc-vs-microsoft-store-vlc-differences-better/ https://itigic.com/normal-vlc-vs-microsoft-store-vlc-differe...
- nathanaldensr 5y agoAnother small slice of personal agency is lost. Still enjoying those walled gardens keeping you "safe?"
- anon9001 5y agoSurely Amazon feels safer now.
- johnebgd 5y agoDRM manages freedom like jail manages freedom.
- deregulateMed 5y agoStop calling it a "walled garden". It's a "walled prison".
- simondotau 5y agoIt’s not a prison because you’re welcome to leave whenever you want.
- chii 5y agoyou can leave the phone ecosystem the same way you can leave society at will.
- maxcan 5y agofuuuuck. I had it installed but iOS "archived" it and now I can't get it back. one of the best apps out there.
- LeoPanthera 5y agoIt's still usable in a web browser at: https://www.fakespot.com https://www.fakespot.com Review Meta does a similar thing and its iOS app seems to be still available: https://reviewmeta.com https://reviewmeta.com
- htsh 5y agoThey ask you to install an extension but the web lookup is still available here: https://www.fakespot.com/analyzer https://www.fakespot.com/analyzer
- mfkp 5y agoNote that reviewmeta was recently sold to a new operator, so we'll see how trustworthy it continues to be. Some interesting data on financials and revenue models here: https://storecoach.com/products/for-sale-reviewmeta https://storecoach.com/products/for-sale-reviewmeta
- patd 5y agoI’m a bit confused here. ReviewMeta, the site that filtered review, was mostly making money by selling items as an Amazon seller ? The business model was to find items people are browsing on Amazon and then find a drop shipping niche ?
- NazakiAid 5y agoNever heard of this but will definitely give it a go now thats for sure. Amazons full of fakes
- gunapologist99 5y agoAs is the App Store.
- d3nj4l 5y agoThe third-party API rule is the most baffling in all of Apple’s App Store regulations. It’s ridiculous that you can’t make and monetise alternative clients to popular services, as if the first party client is always going to be the best.
- djxfade 5y agoWhat? How does third party Reddit clients still exists on the App Store then?
- saurik 5y ago"unauthorized": reddit has an official API for third-party clients.
- thezilch 5y agoSo does Amazon's HTTP API for browser clients. Is Apple going to snuggle up with Amazon and get the Brave browser banned for nuking their ads, trackers, etc?
- gunapologist99 5y agoWhat do you think? There's no love lost from either company toward Brave. (Which makes me love Brave more!)
- Spivak 5y agoI mean it’s not really though. Access != Authorization and stopping bots and scraping is a whole industry.
- paxys 5y agoBecause Reddit hasn't asked Apple to remove them (or revoked API access themselves)
- kmeisthax 5y agoRelated note: Apple is adding WebExtensions to iOS 15 (and iPadOS 15). Given that many extensions exist specifically to do exactly what this rule prohibits, I can imagine Apple's going to see a lot of user and developer protests as more and more extensions are brought over.
- wirthjason 5y agoCurious to how this will play. Even more interesting if it ever goes to court. Both Apple and Amazon are under a lot of regulatory pressure these days and this arrow flies through the heart of both cases.
- SimeVidas 5y agoIs there a browser extension that does this?
- techrat 5y agohttps://www.fakespot.com/ https://www.fakespot.com/
- digsy 5y agohttps://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fakespot-fake-reviews-amazon/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fakespot-fake... https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fakespot-fake-amazon-revi/nakplnnackehceedgkgkokbgbmfghain?utm_campaign=ext_button https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fakespot-fake-amaz...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- throwawayboise 5y agoI'm just done with Amazon. Haven't bought anything from them in at least a year. Between the counterfeits and their unwillingness to address that problem or the fake reviews, they are just not trustworthy. Had they moved quickly and decisively I probably would have given them another chance.
- r00fus 5y agoIn response I’ve cancelled my Amazon prime. Fakespot was doing the job Amazon has failed to do for years and was the only thing keeping me there. Thanks Amazon for finally making this breakup a done deal.
- ffffwe3rq352y3 5y agoMan that's extreme. I wish I had the guts to do that. Good on you!
- r00fus 5y agoIf you look at my post history the quality of products has been going down, and we (as a fam) have reduced our AZ spend from 10k/yr (literally buying everything from there) a few years ago down to about 500-1000/yr in the past year. Prime Video was a sticky factor, but wife's come to grips with saying goodbye to that as well. I just hadn't made the call. This is what radicalized me.
- kongolongo 5y agoI've posted a similar comment before, but on what basis do you trust fakespot? If they were being paid to promote or even outright manipulate the analysis how would we know? Or how would the be immune to the same review manipulation by sellers that Amazon is prone to? Why do you think we don't need a fakespot for fakespot too?
- abestic9 5y agoNot that I use Amazon much, but I now know Fakespot is a thing that exists, and will aim to use it whenever I do shop there. Thank you Amazon, for bringing this awesome service to my attention!
- tamaharbor 5y agoDoes anyone notice a pattern?
- rvz 5y agoHas anyone actually realized that these companies will never change? Even after these antitrust cases they still won’t change. They always find a way.
- deregulateMed 5y agoGood thing android let's users install whatever they want. I'm happily using fdroid and AdBlock. Just downloaded fakespot.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- completelylegit 5y agoRead the EULA before you use it. You’ll probably change your mind.
- hakube 5y agoThey claim they have their own tools to combat fake reviews, etc. I'm not seeing it in action though.
- m-p-3 5y agoWithout this I wouldn't have been aware of the service. Thanks Amazon, enjoy your Streisand effect.
- fbelzile 5y agoWhy is everyone here just blaming Amazon? Of course they're going to ask Apple to do this. It's in their own self-interest. The more interesting questions is, why is Apple complying? Are they afraid that Amazon will retaliate by pulling their apps out of the App Store? If so, are they really just going to keep prioritizing big tech connections in favor of it's own customers? The rule cited is so vague that even a basic paid browser app would break it. All the app does is augment data available from any web browser with other data. > 5.2.2 Third-Party Sites/Services: If your app uses, accesses, monetizes access to, or displays content from a third-party service, ensure that you are specifically permitted to do so under the service’s terms of use. Authorization must be provided upon request.
- pankajdoharey 5y agoBad Apple! Rotten From Inside.
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- akudha 5y agoYou have a multi billion monster on one side and a teeny tiny app on the other side. I don’t think Apple is afraid of Amazon or anyone else. It just makes sense to side with a fellow Goliath than with some unknown app. There is no upside in siding with fakespot. It is highly unethical, but otherwise it is just business as usual
- ev1 5y agoFakespot is one of the more atrocious extensions when it comes to data collection. It sends everything you look at, everything you add to cart, while you are logged out of everything it will also persistently track your viewed items with a unique identifier. I understand that the below may be in PP/ToS but come on, a normal user will not. It does a lot of things completely opaque to the normal end user that are well above a "please tell me if item X's reviews are good or bad" - it practically sends Fakespot almost every single page interaction or click that you do on an Amazon property. It does the same on every other site it supports - whether or not you want your item inspected, it will notify Fakespot about what products you viewed, what browser, what you clicked on, Add to Cart or Buy Now clicks, Sort clicks, every product visible on page (by ID and seller). They also use the same unique session identifier across sites, so items you look at on eBay/Walmart/etc can be tied to the same person as items viewed on Amazon. If you choose to try to opt out of automatic item detection, that choice is also sent back to their servers (where it then returns a 4xx and tells you to sign up or sign in to fakespot with an account to save settings). The extension itself is many megabytes of heavily packed and obfuscated JS. If you have it installed, I would recommend not doing so.
- judge2020 5y agoSome support, since nobody seems to read the privacy policy[0] (or the Chrome privacy practices page![1]): > When you use our Services, we automatically collect the following information about you: > User ID: ... User ID also includes your account password, other credentials, security questions, and confirmation codes. And a cherry on top, first-party ads: > Purchase Information: Your purchase history or purchase tendencies which we may use to recommend better products and sellers. 0: https://www.fakespot.com/privacy-policy#:~:text=User%20ID%20also%20includes%20your%20account%20password%2C%20other%20credentials%2C%20security%20questions%2C%20and%20confirmation%20codes https://www.fakespot.com/privacy-policy#:~:text=User%20ID%20... 1: https://i.judge.sh/other/Derpy/f0usrlNfij.png https://i.judge.sh/other/Derpy/f0usrlNfij.png
- ev1 5y agoThe full Chrome privacy page - this is absolutely nuts for a review comparator: Fakespot Fake Amazon Reviews and eBay Sellers collects the following: Personally identifiable information For example: name, address, email address, age, or identification number Authentication information For example: passwords, credentials, security question, or personal identification number (PIN) Location For example: region, IP address, GPS coordinates, or information about things near the user’s device Web history The list of web pages a user has visited, as well as associated data such as page title and time of visit User activity For example: network monitoring, clicks, mouse position, scroll, or keystroke logging Website content For example: text, images, sounds, videos, or hyperlinks In the year before the date this policy was issued, on the Services we may have collected the following categories of California Information: Address and other identifiers -- such as name, postal address, zip code, email address, account name, payment card numbers, or other similar identifiers Unique and online identifiers -- such as IP address, device IDs, or other similar identifiers Characteristics of protected classifications -- such as race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation Commercial information -- such as products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies Internet, gaming or other electronic network activity information -- such as browsing history, search history and information regarding an individual's interaction with an internet website, application, or advertisement Professional or educational Information Biometric information Location information -- (e.g. if you access our Sites on your mobile device we may collect Information about your device's precise location.) Online viewing activities (e.g. pages viewed) Inferences drawn from California Information, such as individual profiles, preferences, characteristics, behaviors.
- throwawayftphub 5y agoMy small business manufactures the product in the link below and sells it on Amazon. It has over 1000 reviews and on my honor I have never purchased or posted a fake review anywhere including Amazon. Out of curiosity can one or two readers with the Fakespot App go to my product page and see what the App reports. Preferably two people, just to see if there is randomness to the result. This assumes you can still use an app that has been removed from the App store. Or is it automatically deleted from your phone ? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MCV1QZF/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MCV1QZF/
- what-is-a-monad 5y agoWith the extension, you get an A on one and a ? on another. I don't believe Fakespot's ratings are useful, though, because for other sites I've gotten for a negative-feedback seller "seller is RELIABLE and APPROVED BY FAKESPOT" when the API response consists entirely of "Seller has a return policy" and nothing else. If you go on eBay for example, any seller that says "accepts returns" will automatically be flagged trustworthy.
- pfranz 5y agoI've never used the app or extension, but someone in this thread mentioned they have a web version: https://www.fakespot.com/product/garagemate-open-your-garage-with-your-iphone-or-android-simple-secure https://www.fakespot.com/product/garagemate-open-your-garage... It gives an A rating.
- xtat 5y agoFAANG is all one company with the appearance of competition.