{"id":23081,"date":"2016-01-21T09:59:58","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T17:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/?p=23081"},"modified":"2016-01-21T19:45:38","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T03:45:38","slug":"how-to-spot-fake-amazon-reviews-that-amazon-wont-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/features\/how-to-spot-fake-amazon-reviews-that-amazon-wont-stop\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Spot the Fake Amazon Reviews that Amazon won&#8217;t remove"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/amazon.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-23100\" src=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/amazon-1024x464.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"amazon\" width=\"620\" height=\"281\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/amazon-1024x464.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/amazon-300x136.jpg 300w, https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/amazon.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While Amazon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/technology-32251698\" target=\"_blank\">recently made a big show<\/a> of going after reviewers selling their review services on sites like Fiverr and other employee crowdsourcing sites, Amazon hasn&#8217;t made any substantial moves against the rampant growth of overseas sellers flooding the retail site with fake reviews.<\/p>\n<p>This is usually how it works. A reseller will source products from a country that manufacturers items very cheaply, like China for instance. They list those products on Amazon, then distribute a sample of those products to a group of &#8220;unbiased&#8221; reviewers at a steep discount or completely free.<\/p>\n<p>Those &#8220;unbiased&#8221; reviewers plaster Amazon with 5-star reviews for the product with a variation on this disclaimer phrase &#8220;<em>I received this item at a discounted price for my honest and unbiased review.<\/em>&#8220;These &#8220;unbiased&#8221; reviews will usually include a smattering of product pictures as well as common phrases that pop up in the description.\u00a0Fortunately, it&#8217;s pretty easy to\u00a0identify\u00a0these shills.<\/p>\n<h3>Three tips to identifying fake reviews:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Search Amazon reviews for specific keywords like &#8220;discount,&#8221; &#8220;honest,&#8221; &#8220;unbiased,&#8221; or &#8220;review.&#8221; If you see a rash of reviews with that common disclaimer phrase pop up, you have discovered fake reviews.<\/li>\n<li>Use the sorting function to look at the timing of the reviews. When most of the 5-star reviews are around the same time period (perhaps within seven to ten days), those are\u00a0likely fake reviews.<\/li>\n<li>Fake reviews are typically short, include\u00a0extremely general details and have an overbearing level of positive superlatives. It&#8217;s also likely you will see grammatical errors in phrasing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Alternatively, you can also use\u00a0FakeSpot<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fakespot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Fakespot.com<\/a> is a new site that popped up within the last few months that uses\u00a0algorithms to analyze all reviews for a specific product. The site searches for automated reviews (generated by bots), one person\u00a0writing reviews under several fake profiles, and reviews that were written in exchange for discounted or free products.<\/p>\n<p>You can use <a href=\"https:\/\/fakespot.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the FakeSpot site<\/a> in order to specifically analyze an Amazon URL or you can download <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/fakespot-analyze-fake-ama\/nakplnnackehceedgkgkokbgbmfghain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the Google Chrome extension<\/a> to automatically check an Amazon page<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at a few examples of super fake reviews:<\/p>\n<h4>G-Cord Bluetooth Headset: 93% Fake Reviews<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/g-cord.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23093\" src=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/g-cord.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"g-cord\" width=\"768\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/g-cord.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/g-cord-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The biggest problem with these G-Cord reviews is short length and poor writing. There are few\u00a0specifics about the product within the reviews and many appear to have been purchased around later October.<\/p>\n<h4>Youna Women&#8217;s Leather Handbag: 77% Fake Reviews<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/youna.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23094\" src=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/youna.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"youna\" width=\"768\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/youna.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/youna-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>These reviews are obviously fake due to common phrases used between different reviews as well as constant mentions of receiving the product at a discount. There&#8217;s an identical trend in other Youna reviews.<\/p>\n<h4>Seneo Wireless Security Camera: 79% Fake Reviews<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/seneo.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23096\" src=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/seneo.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"seneo\" width=\"768\" height=\"402\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/seneo.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/seneo-300x157.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The three core problems with this batch include\u00a0an overwhelming amount of positive reviews, language that utilizes too many positive superlatives, and reviews that exist without the reviewer actually purchasing the product.<\/p>\n<span class=\"highlight-yellow\">On the flip side, let&#8217;s look at a legitimate review page.<\/span>\n<h4>AUKEY Desktop Charging Station: Only 3.5% Fake Reviews<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aukey.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-23098\" src=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aukey.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"aukey\" width=\"768\" height=\"376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aukey.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/aukey-300x147.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>With such a small amount of fake reviews in the mix, you can easily trust the Amazon reviewers for this particular product.<\/p>\n<h3>Why Hasn&#8217;t Amazon Removed These Obviously Fake Reviews?<\/h3>\n<p>Surely, a retailer\u00a0with a market value of $250 billion could afford to\u00a0invest in a little\u00a0algorithmic learning that spots and removes fake reviews. One issue\u00a0is that exchanging product for reviews is basically the definition of the Amazon Vine reviewer program. Products are distributed to Amazon Vine reviewers for free in exchange for a detailed review. Amazon is leading by example, to a certain extent.<\/p>\n<p>Another issue is that Amazon makes\u00a0loads of money facilitating the sale of products through third party sellers.\u00a0Amazon takes a commission\u00a0percentage for each product that\u00a0a third party sells on the site. In addition, third party sales have greater margins, thus many analysts believe Amazon is making\u00a0more on these sales than selling first party items. Of course, Amazon also makes money on\u00a0fees when storing items for a third party seller in an Amazon warehouse.<\/p>\n<p>No matter which way you slice it, there&#8217;s an obvious\u00a0conflict of interest for Amazon to move faster on removing obviously fake reviews. Fake, 5-star reviews help\u00a0products sell more quickly, even if it&#8217;s at the expense of the Amazon customer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"green-box\"><div class=\"green-box-content\"><strong>Have you ever purchased a crappy\u00a0product on Amazon that had fake, overly positive reviews? Let us know in the comments below.<\/strong><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While Amazon recently made a big show of going after reviewers selling their review services on sites like Fiverr and other employee crowdsourcing sites, Amazon hasn&#8217;t made any substantial moves against the rampant growth of overseas sellers flooding the retail site with fake reviews. This is usually how it works. A reseller will source products [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[537,1440,1441,168,102],"class_list":["post-23081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-amazon","tag-amazon-reviews","tag-fake-reviews","tag-reviews-2","tag-splendiferous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23081","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23081"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23081\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23116,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23081\/revisions\/23116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23081"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23081"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bensbargains.com\/thecheckout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23081"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}