this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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Amazon, Tripadvisor and other companies team up to battle fake reviews while FTC seeks to ban them (apnews.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/technology
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[–] [email protected] 46 points 1 year ago

At one point in the future ... bots will be buying cheap products and reviewing it with glowing reviews and recommendations to other bots who will also buy them and repeat.

Future space faring civilizations will wonder why this planet is filled with automated machines, digital systems that are all manufacturing, purchasing, commenting how great these products are no matter how useless they are, then disposing the products and endlessly repeating the cycle.

They will also wonder who the original inhabitants of this planet were and why they built such a strange system.

[–] Nurse_Robot 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I try to never use Amazon, but I recently did. The product I bought was defective, so I tried to leave a review. I was told I'm not allowed to write a review because I haven't purchased enough products recently. Fuck Amazon.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Atomic Shrimp just tested a very obvious scam memory card, and Amazon deleted their review.

[–] troydowling 8 points 1 year ago

I bought a popcorn bowl that turned out to be terrible. It came with a leaflet coupon saying if I left a 5-star review, they would send me another bowl for free.

The comment I tried to leave was a short, fair, polite statement along the lines of 'this bowl doesn't meet the claims X and Y on the description, and came with an offer to trade a good review for another bowl for free." That review got flagged by the automod and was ultimately rejected. If I recall, the rejection message wasn't even specific on what rule my review broke.

[–] SpruceBringsteen 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Remember when the FCC used fake comments to justify their attacks against net neutrality?

I do.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yrs ago this would have (foolishly) increased my trust in the companies, but I've long since learned that companies building a "coalition" doesn't mean squat unless it's actually utilized to create positive change.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For years they profit off fake reviews. The government finally starts to notice and all of a sudden the corporations give a shit? Riiiiight.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

It must be hurting their bottom line.

Or they just want certain reviews to be removed by claiming they are fake.

No reason to expect that th reason is to benefit their customers.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I thought fake reviews were already illegal?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

NEW YORK (AP) — Some of the most used platforms for travel and online shopping said Tuesday they’re going to team up to battle fake reviews.

Much of the problem is fueled by brokers who solicit fake customer reviews through social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps and other channels in exchange for money, free items or other benefits.

Last year, it also sued the administrators of more than 10,000 Facebook groups that it alleged were coordinating bogus reviews in exchange for money or free products.

Becky Foley, Tripadvisor’s vice president for Trust & Safety, said in a statement included in the news release that combating operators behind fake reviews will be “an immediate area of focus” for the coalition.

“These actors often operate outside of jurisdictions with a legal framework to shut down fraudulent activity, making robust cooperation even more important,” Foley said.

The companies said the coalition is a result conversations that came out of a “Fake Reviews” conference that was organized by Tripadvisor and held last year in San Francisco.

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