Fake Amazon Reviews: How to Spot Them
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Here's your Money Briefing for Friday, July 22nd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Product reviews online can often be the difference maker in helping you decide whether to make a purchase. But fake reviews, ones not left by people who actually purchased the product, can send you astray. Our personal tech columnist, Nicole Nguyen, has been looking into fake reviews on Amazon in particular.
I'm immediately suspicious of any listing that has hundreds or thousands of reviews with only five-star reviews. And if that product only has five-star reviews, be wary of it and avoid it.
But knowing whether a review is real or fake goes beyond the number of stars. Coming up, Nicole will be here to discuss Amazon's efforts to crack down on fake reviews, and she'll discuss telltale signs that a review may not be on the up and up. That's after the break.
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What recent legal action did Amazon take against Facebook groups coordinating fake reviews?
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This week, Amazon said it was suing the administrators of thousands of Facebook groups that it said coordinated fake reviews of products on the Shopping Giants platform. It's the latest move in Amazon's ongoing struggle to clamp down on reviews not posted by people who actually bought a product. So how can you distinguish a real review from a fake one? WSJ personal technology columnist Nicole Nguyen has been researching this, and she's here to discuss. Nicole, thank you so much for being with us.
Thanks for having me.
So, Nicole, you know, Amazon's been dealing with this issue of fake reviews for several years. But how widespread has this become?
We don't know the exact numbers because only Amazon has that data. And I think that Amazon itself doesn't even know which reviews exactly are fake, at least all of the fake reviews. But anecdotally, from people that I've spoke to who've shopped on Amazon, as well as research who have studied reviews very closely for years, this problem has increased during the pandemic as third-party sellers have rushed to give their wares an edge during the shopping frenzy that the pandemic created. And while we don't know exact numbers, we do know that fake reviews touch every category that's sold on Amazon, from USB cords, to garden hoses, to furniture, to skincare, to healthcare. Nearly every product that can be reviewed on Amazon has experienced manipulation.
Now, Amazon has also made efforts to clamp down on fake reviews in the past. The most recent effort is suing the administrators of thousands of Facebook groups.
How widespread are fake Amazon reviews and which product categories are affected?
What does Amazon accuse these groups of doing?
In Amazon's third-party marketplace, where sellers, anyone who wants to sell on Amazon, can sell virtually anything they want. Those sellers cannot incentivize people with free products or with cash compensation to leave a review on its platform. That's against Amazon's rules. It does, however, happen anyway because it's a very competitive marketplace and sellers buy fake reviews or incentivize people to leave reviews with free products and other incentives in order to get an edge.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:29
2
What recent legal action did Amazon take against Facebook groups coordinating fake reviews?
1:29–3:33
3
How widespread are fake Amazon reviews and which product categories are affected?
3:33–5:54
4
What methods do Facebook groups and sellers use to manipulate Amazon reviews?
5:54–7:16
5
How can star ratings reveal suspicious or manipulated product listings?
7:16–9:20
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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