![]() ![]() No response.Īs for Amazon, the company is clear about its review policy - no sneaky stuff. No response.Īmazon’s site says the stud finder was sold by HLG-US Store. I sent an email asking about the gift card. Homder’s website says the company is based in Shenzhen, China. “If companies are now paying for good reviews,” he said, “that’s reason to be wary of all reviews.” ![]() And that’s why he wanted to share his experience with others: to make sure everyone is aware of the danger. He told me he writes code for e-commerce sites. “It looks pretty authentic,” he said.Ī closer inspection, however, revealed what was really happening - he was being tempted with a payoff for a five-star review. Shutman said he was surprised to find what seemed to be an Amazon gift card when he opened his box. “The incentives are high for people to cheat,” she said. Merchants know that reviews can make or break a product sold online, said Dina Mayzlin, a marketing professor at USC. The company has been scrambling for years to battle both dubious reviews and counterfeit goods.īut marketing experts say the gift-card ploy experienced by Shutman is particularly shameless, in effect paying off an actual customer to write a glowing review and thus making it almost impossible for Amazon to challenge the post. Nor will anyone be shocked to learn that a behemoth like Amazon has a hard time policing its own site. For as long as reviews have been posted on websites, there have been attempts by consumers and businesses to game the system. It won’t be a news flash to anyone that a significant percentage of online reviews are untrustworthy. He estimated that up to 60% of such reviews “are fake or somehow influenced.” “This is particularly true for non-Amazon products sold by third parties.” “Amazon reviews are very susceptible to manipulation and bias,” said Russell Winer, a marketing professor at New York University. Good reviews are a key component of product rankings on Amazon, which means sellers have a powerful incentive to generate the best reviews possible - either through customer satisfaction or more dubious methods. I take “tale” in that sentence to mean you shouldn’t mention that your palm was secretly greased to write a glowing review. “Please do not tale or post images about this rebate activity in your review content, otherwise it is invalid.” ![]()
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