[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4Cast #594: Amazon review system is mired in fakes and spam

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OPLIN 4Cast #594: Amazon review system is mired in fakes and spam
May 16th, 2018

[image: Balloon smiley face covering real face] I long ago learned to
ignore nearly all 5-star reviews of books. They're generally uncritical,
more in line with a thumbs-up/thumbs-down assessment than a more nuanced
evaluation that sees strengths, weaknesses, and shades of value. I tend to
zero in on the 3-star reviews, which more often will contain commentary
about *why* the reviewer assigned that score.

Last week, BuzzFeedNews published an investigative piece exploring the
underground economy of fake reviews on Amazon. It's a fascinating but
depressing read. Amazon Marketplace is a great tool but entrepreneurs to
build businesses out of good ideas, but they can easily be targeted by
copycats, who pay for to boost their products (and pay to smear other
competitors). Critics say Amazon could easily do more to fix the problem,
but as Amazon earns money from the sales, what incentive do they have?

   -
   - Inside The Ecosystem That Fuels Amazon’s Fake Review Problem
   <https://www.buzzfeed.com/nicolenguyen/amazon-fake-review-problem> [
   *BuzzFeedNews* | Nicole Nguyen] "Being a five-star product is crucial to
   selling inventory at scale in Amazon’s intensely competitive marketplace —
   so crucial that merchants are willing to pay thousands of people to review
   their products positively."
   - How merchants use Facebook to flood Amazon with fake reviews
   <https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/how-merchants-secretly-use-facebook-to-flood-amazon-with-fake-reviews/2018/04/23/5dad1e30-4392-11e8-8569-26fda6b404c7_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.d5ecab79200b>
   [*Washington Post *| Elizabeth Dwoskin and Craig Timberg] "ReviewMeta
   and Fakespot say the ease of detecting potentially fraudulent reviews makes
   them wonder why Amazon isn’t more stringent."
   - Online reviews: Here's what's behind all those 5 star ratings
   <https://www.nbcnews.com/better/business/does-five-star-online-review-really-mean-product-good-ncna870901>
   [*NBCNews* | Stephanie Thurrott] "Sort through the swamp of ratings and
   reviews with these seven easy tips."
   - Here's Why Amazon Can't Fix Review Spam
   <https://lifehacker.com/heres-why-amazon-cant-fix-review-spam-1825955852>
   [*Lifehacker  *| Nick Douglas] "The ratings system is broken, and it
   will keep getting worse. If Amazon keeps rushing to patch holes instead of
   building something new to replace it, it will lose, and Amazon ratings will
   stop meaning anything."

*From the Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Christou, Corilee. "Fake Online Reviews
   <http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=83632207>.
   (Cover Story)." *Searcher*, vol. 20, no. 9, Nov. 2012, pp. 22-31.
   - Mendoza, Jessica. "Amazon Sues 1,000 Fake Reviewers. Can Online
   Retailers Restore Customer Trust?
   <http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=110412055>
   " *Christian Science Monitor*, 19 Oct. 2015.
   - Euijin, Choo, et al. "Detecting Opinion Spammer Groups and Spam
   Targets through Community Discovery and Sentiment Analysis
   <http://proxy.oplin.org:2054/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=123380797&site=ehost-live>
   ." *Journal of Computer Security*, vol. 25, no. 3, May 2017, pp. 283-318.

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