Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when huge swaths of the population pivoted from brick-and-mortar to online shopping, Amazon has brought in 50 million additional Prime members and boosted its profits. The company that sells everything saw a market opportunity and grabbed hold with both hands. But as business boomed, Amazon has not adequately policed a growing shadow: fake product reviews.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, when huge swaths of the population pivoted from brick-and-mortar to online shopping, Amazon has brought in 50 million additional Prime members and boosted its profits. The company that sells everything saw a market opportunity and grabbed hold with both hands. But as business boomed, Amazon has not adequately policed a growing shadow: fake product reviews.
Anyone who shops online has likely used purchaser reviews to help them make decisions. But these can’t always be trusted. Some sellers offer gift cards or rebates in exchange for buyer reviews. Some work with companies that have vast networks of reviewers to boost an item’s score and visibility because the more positive feedback an item has, the higher its ranking (typically) in product searches.
Amazon’s rule are clear: Fake or incentivized reviews are not allowed, and the company claims it is working hard to keep on top of such deceptive activity. In 2020, Amazon said, it removed in excess of 200 million fake reviews. Still, the Federal Trade Commission has been pressuring Amazon to crack down harder on such violations.
Amazon should prioritize consumer protection over unchecked growth. Individuals and reporters digging into the fake-review business have been able to quickly turn up numerous examples of malfeasance. A company with Amazon’s resources should be able to better protect its customers and its reputation.
Amazon is trying to punt blame, arguing that the responsibility for the proliferation of fake reviews should lie with social media companies. There’s some merit to this, as Facebook is often used as a platform to organize review campaigns. However, the buck ultimately stops with Amazon.
The University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California published a study in August tracking 1,500 products on Amazon that had reviews solicited by Facebook groups. It took Amazon roughly 100 days to remove the reviews. (An Amazon spokesman disputed that finding but refused to say why.)
There should be better internal mechanisms for identifying and purging misleading reviews. The FTC is right to be pressuring the tech behemoth, and Amazon must do better in protecting the customer base it has amassed.
