April 27, 2015 at 09:38Amazon sues sites with fake product reviews
- Transfer
Owners of online stores know how important positive customer reviews are. A study conducted in 2013 by Dimensional Research with 1,046 US buyers showed that 90 percent of buyers who read reviews say that positive reviews influenced their decision to make a purchase.
Most sellers and buyers also know that not all reviews are real. When the proportion of fake reviews (those that are left by individuals who have not bought the product and who are paid to write positive reviews) reaches a certain level, the entire reviews function is at risk.
Amazon, the seller who really has something to lose from fake reviews, decided to sue.
Earlier this month, Amazon announced that it had filed a lawsuit in Washington state court against four websites to prohibit them from promoting and paying for fake positive product reviews. These sites sell their services to manufacturers and sellers of products, promising them excellent product reviews. Amazon claims that such review sites are subject to trademark and fraud laws and are contrary to the Washington State Consumer Protection Laws and the Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The company claims damages and restitution. See the PDF file of the lawsuit .
Guaranteed 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon
These four sites (which have different owners) are BuyAzonReviews.com, BuyAmazonReviews.com, BuyReviews.net and BuyReviewsNow.com, the last two of which are already closed. Although Amazon has a detection system, the “drip infusion” system advertised on these sites allows a large number of fake reviews to slip through.
The lawsuit said, “Amazon takes the honesty of its customer reviews very seriously. Amazon has developed sophisticated technology and protocols to detect and remove fake, misinforming, and false reviews from its site. "Amazon searches for fake reviews on its website, deletes them, and blocks sellers who post or buy fake reviews."
According to the lawsuit, Amazon claims that in order to trick it into thinking that the reviews were left by verified customers (who have an Amazon account and have bought products), the owner of Buy Azon Reviews recommends that sellers do not actually send the product to the person who left the review , but just send an empty box in order to track the purchase. At the same time, Jay Gentile, the owner of the site, says that he does not commit anything wrong or illegal.
Although Amazon can benefit from four- and five-star reviews in the short term, the less reliable reviews are, the less customers will trust them. And this may affect Amazon’s reputation.
The lawsuit claims that “Although in small numbers, such reviews threaten to undermine the confidence of buyers, and most sellers and manufacturers working through Amazon thus denigrate this brand. Amazon strictly prohibits any attempt to manipulate customer reviews and actively maintain order on the site by removing fake, misinforming and false reviews. Despite considerable efforts to eliminate such activities, an unhealthy environment is developing outside of Amazon and is providing ever new, false reviews. ”
Earlier this year, Yelp, a company with a business model based entirely on customer reviews, filed a lawsuit against YelpDirector.com and Revleap.me, claiming that these sites help businesses post positive reviews about their operations and suppress negative reviews. YelpDirector is currently closed. It turned out that it was enough to sue to eliminate sites with reviews, mainly because large companies have a wider pocket. If Amazon triumphs in court, it will receive three times the damages and legal expenses.
These sites often advertise their services for posting positive reviews on Craigslist and Freelance.com, which the Federal Trade Commission should have done for a long time. In 2014, the FTC began an investigation into the Yelp case after, starting in 2008, it received 2,046 lawsuits against this company, mainly from small business owners who complained about dishonest or fraudulent reviews. However, the management decided not to take any action. By pursuing fake review sites, Yelp may show that it is trying to limit the number of such reviews. We talked about negative reviews on Yelp earlier in the article “Can Lawsuits Remedy Bad Online Reviews?” (Can a lawsuit help with bad online reviews?). Moreover, the states, if not the federal government, began to tighten the screws.
Most sellers and buyers also know that not all reviews are real. When the proportion of fake reviews (those that are left by individuals who have not bought the product and who are paid to write positive reviews) reaches a certain level, the entire reviews function is at risk.
Amazon, the seller who really has something to lose from fake reviews, decided to sue.
Trial
Earlier this month, Amazon announced that it had filed a lawsuit in Washington state court against four websites to prohibit them from promoting and paying for fake positive product reviews. These sites sell their services to manufacturers and sellers of products, promising them excellent product reviews. Amazon claims that such review sites are subject to trademark and fraud laws and are contrary to the Washington State Consumer Protection Laws and the Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The company claims damages and restitution. See the PDF file of the lawsuit .
Guaranteed 4 and 5 star reviews on Amazon
These four sites (which have different owners) are BuyAzonReviews.com, BuyAmazonReviews.com, BuyReviews.net and BuyReviewsNow.com, the last two of which are already closed. Although Amazon has a detection system, the “drip infusion” system advertised on these sites allows a large number of fake reviews to slip through.
The lawsuit said, “Amazon takes the honesty of its customer reviews very seriously. Amazon has developed sophisticated technology and protocols to detect and remove fake, misinforming, and false reviews from its site. "Amazon searches for fake reviews on its website, deletes them, and blocks sellers who post or buy fake reviews."
According to the lawsuit, Amazon claims that in order to trick it into thinking that the reviews were left by verified customers (who have an Amazon account and have bought products), the owner of Buy Azon Reviews recommends that sellers do not actually send the product to the person who left the review , but just send an empty box in order to track the purchase. At the same time, Jay Gentile, the owner of the site, says that he does not commit anything wrong or illegal.
Buy Azon Reviews sells to sellers positive reviews
Although Amazon can benefit from four- and five-star reviews in the short term, the less reliable reviews are, the less customers will trust them. And this may affect Amazon’s reputation.
The lawsuit claims that “Although in small numbers, such reviews threaten to undermine the confidence of buyers, and most sellers and manufacturers working through Amazon thus denigrate this brand. Amazon strictly prohibits any attempt to manipulate customer reviews and actively maintain order on the site by removing fake, misinforming and false reviews. Despite considerable efforts to eliminate such activities, an unhealthy environment is developing outside of Amazon and is providing ever new, false reviews. ”
Earlier this year, Yelp, a company with a business model based entirely on customer reviews, filed a lawsuit against YelpDirector.com and Revleap.me, claiming that these sites help businesses post positive reviews about their operations and suppress negative reviews. YelpDirector is currently closed. It turned out that it was enough to sue to eliminate sites with reviews, mainly because large companies have a wider pocket. If Amazon triumphs in court, it will receive three times the damages and legal expenses.
And where are the oversight bodies?
These sites often advertise their services for posting positive reviews on Craigslist and Freelance.com, which the Federal Trade Commission should have done for a long time. In 2014, the FTC began an investigation into the Yelp case after, starting in 2008, it received 2,046 lawsuits against this company, mainly from small business owners who complained about dishonest or fraudulent reviews. However, the management decided not to take any action. By pursuing fake review sites, Yelp may show that it is trying to limit the number of such reviews. We talked about negative reviews on Yelp earlier in the article “Can Lawsuits Remedy Bad Online Reviews?” (Can a lawsuit help with bad online reviews?). Moreover, the states, if not the federal government, began to tighten the screws.
Useful Paysto Solutions for Guictimes Readers:
→ Get paid by credit card right now. Without a site, IP and LLC.
→ Accept payment from companies online. Without a site, IP and LLC.
→ Accepting payments from companies for your site. With document management and exchange of originals.
→ Automation of sales and servicing transactions with legal entities. Without an intermediary in the calculations.
→ Accept payment from companies online. Without a site, IP and LLC.
→ Accepting payments from companies for your site. With document management and exchange of originals.
→ Automation of sales and servicing transactions with legal entities. Without an intermediary in the calculations.