German Court Upholds Paid Amazon Review Case

[AlphaAtlas]

Representing another win in the fight against paid reviews, a recent report claims that a German court upheld an Amazon case against undisclosed, paid reviews on their site. The provider supposedly offered 3rd party Amazon sellers positive reviews in exchange for some sort of compensation, such as a discount on the product, but the court banned the company from publishing reviews without advertising their "commercial background."

The ruling is not yet legally binding as the company can still appeal. Amazon's community guidelines prohibit compensation for reviews, but the practice has still proliferated, prompting Amazon to seek to sue sellers who buy reviews. Amazon tightened up its rules in 2016 to only allow reviewers to accept a free or discounted product as long as they disclose that fact, and use the Amazon "Vine" program to post their opinions.

 

[Nenu]

I had such an offer to receive free or lower price stuff for reviews.
It got reported lol.

 

[velusip]

I had such an offer to receive free or lower price stuff for reviews.
It got reported lol.

That's interesting. Do tell.

Considering how little moderation goes into popular online services, it's nice to see them actually crack down on this kind of abuse every so often.

 

[viscountalpha]

Eset is trying to get me to give them a review for a "CHANCE" at a 25$ amazon card. I was burned the last time I tried that. Fuck 'em.

Paid reviews can easily be very scammy from the get go. It's just unethical.

 

[Nenu]

That's interesting. Do tell.

Considering how little moderation goes into popular online services, it's nice to see them actually crack down on this kind of abuse every so often.

I'd rather not post anything that can identify me to those involved.
They sent me similar to this, I changed the wording, phrasing etc:

To reward you for the review and so more people can know about us, we will provide you with big deals and new products at no cost.
They went on to offer free samples, loyalty offers and other discounts.

Yes, this is needed badly on Amazon.
I've had to complain about so many dodgy products that I hardly use them now.

 

[velusip]

It makes me think of that broken windows theory. A gradual reduction in quality of storefronts and products let open the floodgates for more shady activity. I remember when it started to happen to ebay and that leaked over to amazon. Now you can search for one thing and you get hundreds of knockoffs listed by new account names made up of random letters, with way too many positive reviews in engrish.

 

[Nenu]

Something that really wound me up about Amazon was buying a new product that failed just over a year later.
Warranty here by law is 2 years and longer, an expected service life is a valid claim.
The seller admitted it wasnt new but something he bought for himself and sold, it had no warranty but was sold as if it had.
I complained to Amazon and they sided with the seller!
Amazons problems are in house as well.

 

[SomeoneElse]

My wife ordered screen protectors for her Pixel 3 XL and she read a bunch of reviews on stuff. She picked based on the highest rating. When the product came i opened it up and started to attempt to put it on the phone and it wouldn't fit with her case. After that I though man for tempered glass it sure is pretty flimsy. Then I saw inside the box a little flyer that read "If you give us a 5 Star Review we will refund your money for this purchase ".
I then told her she got duped by fake reviews and to buy only stuff that amazon fulfills.

 

[[Spectre]]

My wife ordered screen protectors for her Pixel 3 XL and she read a bunch of reviews on stuff. She picked based on the highest rating. When the product came i opened it up and started to attempt to put it on the phone and it wouldn't fit with her case. After that I though man for tempered glass it sure is pretty flimsy. Then I saw inside the box a little flyer that read "If you give us a 5 Star Review we will refund your money for this purchase ".
I then told her she got duped by fake reviews and to buy only stuff that amazon fulfills.

Amazon comingles product though, so Amazon will fulfill with fakes as well.