An Introduction on How To Spot Fake Online Reviews
Becoming an educated consumer is becoming harder and harder with the onset of fake reviews everywhere online. Nowhere moreso than Amazon, are these fake revies prevelant. As the largest online retailer in both the US and UK, Amazon offers nearly everything. Whether you’re shopping for sponges for your kitchen or looking for electronics, user reviews often guide purchasing decisions. And with so many brands floating around on Amazon – these reviews can help consumers understand just who they’re really buying from, if it’s not a major American brand they’re familiar with.
However, the reality is that many of these reviews are fake. How so? Sellers and Competitors alike are buying up fake postive reviews and fake negative reviews. Good ones for themselves and negative ones against the competition. For example, sellers may pay for glowing feedback or offer incentives like gift cards in exchange for five-star ratings. Alternatively, sellers may solicit fake negative reviews on competing products. While it’s tough to completely avoid fake reviews, knowing what to watch out for can reduce the likelihood of being misled. Here are some key tips to help.
The State of Fake Online Reviews
Fake reviews are not uncommon on Amazon. According to a UK government report, 11 to 15 percent of consumer electronics reviews on e-commerce platforms are fake. These fraudulent reviews, often overwhelmingly positive, are written to artificially inflate a product’s ranking.
Amazon isn’t the only platform with this issue. Major retailers like Walmart and Target also deal with fake reviews. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) put over 700 businesses on notice and is considering implementing stricter penalties for violators. The tips below can help you spot fake reviews across various platforms.
Some paid reviewers are more subtle, providing detailed descriptions, photos, and a balanced score of four out of five stars to make their review seem legitimate. Fake online reviews that are negative, on the other hand, usually come in the form of one-star feedback meant to steer you toward a competing product.
How Amazon Sellers Get Fake Reviews
The demand for fake online reviews stems from the desire to increase sales. Phony reviews are often driven by an underground market where sellers pay for positive reviews or offer incentives like free products. Some sellers even request that buyers edit or remove negative reviews in exchange for refunds or gifts.
Phony Reviews From Social Media Circles
Social media groups organize teams of reviewers, and certain companies offer bulk packages of reviews to boost product visibility. These tactics help sellers create a falsely positive reputation for their products. Folks embedded in these circles often benefit handsomely from their fake online reviews, because they get kick backs in the form of products or gift cards.
Misleading Star Ratings By Manipulating Product Listings
Some sellers manipulate reviews by abusing Amazon’s variation system, which is intended for different versions of the same product. By adding new items — often entirely different products — as variations, sellers can mislead buyers into thinking all versions have the same glowing fake online reviews.
A seller might add unrelated items with few or negative reviews to a listing that has thousands of positive reviews. To verify, scroll down and select See more reviews and filter by All formats to view reviews for the specific product you’re interested in.
Another common trick is listing products in incorrect categories. By choosing less competitive categories, sellers can earn the coveted Best Seller badge more easily, boosting the product’s visibility and, ultimately, sales. So while these are not ‘fake online reviews’, they are disingenuous and misleading.
