From Fox News:
A Fox News investigation has found that Facebook is a breeding ground for groups where reviews for products on Amazon, among other online platforms, are bought and sold. And small businesses competing in the online marketplace may already be suffering because of a lack of controls, or a lack of efficiency, on behalf of two of the world’s most valuable brands.
Reviews can be critical for businesses that operate in online marketplaces like Amazon, not only because of the impact a 1-star review can have but because sellers and products with the greatest number of reviews typically appear higher in search results.
. . . .
Beyond the fact that reviews are critical for a company’s existence, the practice of compensating someone in exchange for a customer review is something that violates both Amazon and Facebook policies. It could also put you at odds with the Federal Trade Commission.
That hasn’t stopped the practice from flourishing on Facebook, Fox News has found. Groups like “Amazon review club” can be joined with the click of a button, and with no apparent background check.
. . . .
Fox started tracking that group, and others like it, just before the Black Friday shopping rush in early November. Since then, its membership has grown by thousands, standing at more than 82,000 members as of this writing. That group was created in 2016, and there are plenty of others like it where reviews are solicited for everything from Google Maps to Yelp.
. . . .
Over the course of a few weeks, Fox News witnessed members of these groups offering to sell hundreds of reviews at a time, promising commissions in exchange for praise and soliciting 1-star reviews that seemed destined for some unlucky online competitor.
Link to the rest at Fox News
Fox discovers there are fake reviews on Amazon, and Facebook groups dedicated to introducing dodgy sellers with morally suspect reviewers.
It’s not #FakeNews, but neither is it current or new. So is it even news? Or is the only news that Fox has finally caught on?
I would say it’s news to the general public. While visitors to TPV are generally savvy about online marketing and FB groups and such, people like my sister or cousins are often surprised at things that I tell them.
I wasn’t aware that any Facebook groups did background checks. Maybe I should start that with my groups. 😉 😀 🙂
I belong to a FB group that is a continuation of an old usenet group. If you request to join and the administrators don’t recognize your name as an old regular, they will ask around if anyone knows you. So that is sort of a background check.
Wow, Fox News has suddenly discovered that if something can be gamed there are those that will try to make a buck gaming it? Say it isn’t so!
In other news, Amazon is still getting whined at for removing suspect reviews – it seems that if you crank down hard enough to kill fake reviews a few ‘supposedly honest’ reviews get killed as well.
MYMV and your reviews be honest.
I suspect Amazon could randomly remove half the reviews and consumers wouldn’t notice.