Need to Know
8 22 Jan - 4 Feb 2020
Whathappened?
FacebookandeBayhavepromisedtohit
backagainstthefakereviewsflooding
theirwebsites,butonlyafterpressure
fromtheUK’scompetitionregulator.
TheCompetitionandMarkets
Authority(CMA)convincedbothtech
giantstosignuptoagreementstomake
moreefforttoidentifyandremove
dodgyreviews.Thatfollowsan
investigationbytheCMAlastyear,
whichidentifiedmorethan 100 eBay
listingssellingfakereviewsandmore
thantwodozenFacebookgroups
offeringtowritefabricatedreviews.
Thewatchdogstressedthatneither
FacebooknoreBayhadintentionally
allowedsuchactivity– bothcompanies
removedtheoffendinggroupsand
listingswheninformedlastyear,aswell
asbanninghundredsofusers.
Now,bothsitesarepromisingtobe
moreproactive.Facebooksaidit would
usemorerobustsystemstospotsuch
content,whileeBaywillimproveits
existingfilters.However,a quicksearch
revealsthatplentyof“reviewers”
groupsremainonFacebook.Andthey
aren’ttheonlysourcesofdodgy
reviews:in recentyears,USregulators
havetargetedgig-economysiteFiverr
andtheratherobviouslynamed
amazonverifiedreviews.comin thebattle
againstfakereviews.
TheCMAactioncomesasAmazonhas
alsopromisedtodomoretofightfake
reviews,afteraDailyMailinvestigation
(bit.ly/mail493) revealedthatmarketing
firmsweresellingfalsereviewsby
dubioustestersforaslittleas£13each.
That’sillegalin theUK,thoughmostof
thecompaniesofferingsuchservices
arebasedoverseas.Amazonsaidit
wouldtakelegalactionagainstthe
companiesinvolved,butsaiditsefforts
alreadycatchthevastmajorityofdodgy
reviews,and99%ofcommentsposted
onthesitearelegitimateandauthentic.Howwillit affectyou?
AccordingtotheCMA,75%ofonline
shoppersreadcustomerreviewsbefore
decidingwhattobuy,sofakepraisehas
thepowertoinfluencea purchase.
Thefake-reviewgroupsonFacebook
operateby
matching
sellers– who
offerproducts
forfreein
exchangefor
positiveratings- withwould-
bereviewers.Thereviewscouldendup
onAmazon,TrustPilotoranywhereelse,
andaredifficultforretailerstobattle
against,whichis whyFacebookneeds
todomoretobansuchgroupsbefore
thereviewsareevengenerated.
Amazonhasalreadyspenthundreds
ofmillionsofdollarsona mixof
automatedsystemsandhuman
investigatorstotakedownfalsereviews
but,inevitably,somestillslipthrough.
Thismeansanyonlinereviewshouldbe
consideredcarefully– if a product
seemstoogoodtobetrue,youshould
assumethatit is andseekindependent
advicefromothersourcesbefore
shellingoutona big-ticketitem.Whatdowethink?
It’sembarrassingforFacebookand
eBaythatregulatorshadtoforcethem
intoactionoverthislong-standing
problem,andthatafterinvesting
hundredsofmillionsofdollars,Amazon
stillcan’tstopdodgyreviews.
Thissuggeststhatcurrentefforts
simplyaren’tenough,andraisesthe
questionofhowjournalistsattabloid
newspapersand
investigators
attheCMAareable
tospotfakereviews
containing
misleadingand
bogusinformation,
yetthecompanies
in question– withalltheirmoneyand
automatedsystems– cannot.
A positivereviewoneBay,Amazon
andothersiteshelpsretailersselltheir
productsbut,if wecan’ttrustthe
information,there’snopointin even
allowingreviews.Muchmoreneedsto
bedonebeforesuchratingsarefully
trustworthyagain,if theyeverwere–
andweshouldn’thavetowaituntil
regulatorsandwatchdogscomesniffing
aroundbeforetheretailandwebgiants
takeaction.Facebook and eBay pledge to
crack down on fake reviews
Fiverr has been targeted by US regulators
for letting users buy and sell fake reviews
Credit:Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.comIf a product seems too
good to be true, assume that it
is and seek independent advice
from other sources