Fake 111

I was intrigued this afternoon to read a piece in the FT about fake reviews on platforms like Amazon and ebay. Apparently there are lots of fake reviews out there and lots of people who make their living, or at least supplement their income, by writing glowing online reviews. 

At Amazon, it seems that the rules are that you must not review a product for money or for any other consideration and that you must not review a product that you have not bought - but these fine rules must be more or less impossible to police. And at the same time, Amazon actively encourages reviewers, even publishing lists of top reviewers at reference 2. The chap snapped above has, it seems, posted no less than 23,590 reviews. And then there is the Amazon Vine programme at reference 3, where reviewers might get free product.

While one Saoud Halifah makes his living by selling a Chrome add-on called Fakespot which spots fake reviews for you. Not obvious what his business model is, or what his angle is, but he has a fair sized search footprint out on the Internet. See, for example, references 4 and 5.

PS: I might add that I have occasionally been asked if I am interested in a product for blog notice sort of deal. Only occasionally, as I am clearly not on anyone's A list. In any event, all declined.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/09/fake-110.html.

Reference 2: https://www.amazon.com/review/top-reviewers.

Reference 3: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/vine/help.

Reference 4: https://www.fakespot.com/.

Reference 5: https://saoudkhalifah.com/. The inventor and probably the owner of Fakespot. 'This is my personal blog on thoughts and experiences as an engineer + CEO at Fakespot. I enjoy writing on a variety of topics but most of my interests lie in software, philosophy, artificial intelligence, music and business leadership'.