Just because a product on Amazon is full of good reviews doesn’t mean it’s the best buy. In fact, there are many fake reviews on Amazon that have been paid or bought to make it look like it is the best of the entire catalog. That is why it is important that you learn to detect false reviews or opinions, what should we look for? How can we discover that what they are selling us as seemingly perfect is not real? There are a few steps and some cool things to check out.
One of the advantages of Amazon is that it allows us to exchange practically everything thanks to its guarantee, whether it is a third-party seller or Amazon itself. Therefore, if you get carried away by false reviews, you always have the possibility of returning the purchase if it does not fulfill what it promised, if it does not work or if the quality is worse than what was assured.
The problem of fake reviews
As we have collected from time to time on our site, anyone can become a “creator of false opinions” and there are external sellers who offer gift cards in exchange for putting something good on their products or their store. From five pounds for fake reviews to free product exchanges or even up to 8,000 pounds for reviewing a thousand products. According to Which? In the UK in February 2021, up to ten websites were found selling fake reviews ranging from five pounds to fifteen pounds or more than 600 pounds for 50 reviews on a product. These pages allowed you to get gifts of all kinds, discounts, benefits.
Amazon fights to end it and in the terms and conditions of the online store it is made clear that these opinions are not allowed. But nothing can be done to end them and there are Facebook groups organized for this purpose, Telegram channels or businesses whose purpose is precisely this: to generate opinions on products in order to multiply their advantages.
Although Amazon tries to end these practices, it is not easy and its creators know how to bypass the blocks: they wait a few days after the purchase, they use specific words … In any case, if Amazon “detects” this, it eliminates the seller’s accounts and the client. But since it is not always easy to detect, you should know how to identify them.
Amazon Terms
What do they say in the community or conditions section of the online store? We can read what will not be allowed and what will be removed …
“The following are types of reviews that we do not allow and will remove: A review made by someone who has a direct or indirect financial interest in the product, made by someone who is deemed to have a personal relationship with the owner, author, or artist of the product . An opinion of the manufacturer of the product, posing as an unbiased buyer. Multiple negative reviews of the same product from a customer. An opinion in exchange for a monetary reward. An opinion on a game in exchange for bonus credits on it. A negative opinion from a seller of a competitor’s product. An artist publishes a positive opinion on a colleague’s album in exchange for receiving a positive opinion from it “
And they add the following:
“Reviews should provide other customers with genuine feedback on buyers’ products. We have a zero tolerance policy for any opinion designed to mislead or manipulate customers. “
What do we look at to discover that it is false?
There are a number of aspects that we can take into account when finding fake reviews on Amazon. Although there are no fixed rules and it will depend on each product or each opinion, there are a number of things that we can look at.
Bad translation
There are opinions in which it is clearly seen that it is a poorly translated text. If you speak Spanish you will be able to identify that what is written does not have a common language, but clearly it is a translation through tools such as Google. If there are misspelled words, lack of agreement
The problem is that this is not always the case and that there are users who do write in perfect Spanish that will make the alarms not sound so it is best that we not only take this aspect into account but also many others that you can read below and that you should go checking one by one, for example.
Everything is perfect
Remember that most users only go to the Internet when they have to complain. If you have bought something that you like a lot, it is rare that you go to a large online store to put in the comments that everything is wonderful. Yes, there are people who do, but it is usually a minority. It is common to do it with restaurants, with hotels … but usually not with the things we buy in an online store. If we don’t like it, on the other hand, the first thing we do is go complain and say that it does not look like what they promised, that it does not work well, that it is too big or that it is too small, too expensive. Therefore, if a product only has reviews that indicate that it is wonderful and perfect, we must begin to be suspicious.
Most of these bogus opinions or reviews include a long list of product benefits , of good things. And some bad. There is usually a small detail against to counteract, but it is usually something that is not going to make you change your mind, that is not going to make you decide not to buy it at the last minute.
Words and photography
One of the requirements that many companies or businesses ask for fake opinions is that they be well-structured opinions, with a minimum of words. Surely if you buy something that you like, you say that you liked it and that it is going very well. But it is not often that we make long paragraphs or very complex opinions about something we have bought, with few exceptions . However, these people who write fake reviews are usually required to have more than 50 words, to be well written, to have a structure …
Watch out! As we have said, none of these factors is decisive and there may be someone who writes 150 words talking about the benefits of their last purchase without receiving anything in return, but it should be a reason to begin to suspect.
Experts also consider that a large number of photographs can be key to detecting these practices since normally we will not spend part of our time taking many photos of a product without obtaining anything in return , but we do find broad opinions with photos from all angles and of all aspects. This may be due to fake or purchased reviews.
In what products?
The normal thing is that false reviews are on products that do not cost too much , that you do not care one brand or another. It happens with technological gadgets of not much quality and that apparently you can see that they are all the same. From mosquito lights to humidifiers (at a glance you will see that there are 10 or 15 whose differences you do not detect) and that it costs cheap to send them free in exchange for a review.
It is rare that this type of content is in products such as an 800 euro mobile phone, for example, but they are usually cheap as vacuum cleaners of more unknown brands, plugs and multipliers … You will see that in these categories there are many unknown brands and stores and reviews false are perfect to get to be above the others.
Amazon Verified Shopping Reviews
There are a number of reviews that will be marked as ” verified by Amazon .” What does this mean? That the store has checked and verified that the person or user who is giving their opinion bought the product for real and did not receive it for free or with a significant discount.
In addition, from the shopping giant they add that all opinions are valuable and also unverified ones, but they cannot “confirm that the product has been purchased on Amazon or that the customer has paid a price that is available for most of Amazon buyers ”. That is why finding these verified reviews will help us know that that person has paid for the product and may be somewhat more reliable.
Specific extensions and websites
Beyond being careful what we buy and making sure the reviews are true or even seeking a second opinion, there are specific pages or extensions for the browser that help us detect that something is out of the ordinary.
Fakespot
One of the best websites or extensions to detect fake products in Fakespot and one of the most popular for both computer and mobile. It has an extension for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox or applications for iOS and Android . One of the advantages of this service is that it not only allows us to use it on Amazon, but it is also compatible with many other online stores such as Shopify or such as eBay or Walmart, for example.
How does it work? You add the extension to Google Chrome or Firefox and grant the permissions, which will be to “read and modify the data of the sites you visit” and “know your email address.” Once you have it installed, you will have to go to any product that interests you and you will see that Fakespot can analyze the opinions . On the right side of the screen you will see the icon “Analyze opinions”.
Just tap on it and it will take us to the service’s website . After a few seconds, it will give you the results and you will be able to see the reliability of the clients classified from A to the letter F, with A being the most reliable. You don’t have to do anything else and it will automatically check the “reliability” of the opinions and draw a conclusion or result for you. Based on this, you can decide if you want to keep looking for more information or if you trust.
Other aspects to consider
Beyond the opinions or reviews themselves, there are other aspects or other tips and tricks that we can take into account if we want to know if a product is as good as they say.
Look for opinions on other websites
Maybe if you are going to spend five or six euros on something, like a mosquito racket or a plug, you do not care about the quality or you will not waste time looking for more. But if you want to buy a 200 euro lamp or any other more expensive gadget, we should spend some time to see if it is worth it or not. That is why one of the most recommended tips in any purchase is that we do not limit ourselves to the opinions of Amazon , but that we look in more stores, in more websites. You can search on social networks for the opinions of other users or even on YouTube if it is something like a hair dryer, a purifier, a fan or any other “appliance” or device that involves an investment.
There are many websites with opinions, rankings, with reviews. You can compare one and the other, search for information through Twitter or Instagram, social networks. Use the product’s hashtags, look for full reviews, and go beyond the reviews on Amazon. Most of the products that require a large investment, such as a 500 or 600 euro robot vacuum cleaner, will have many opinions on the Internet.
Questions and answers section
Do not limit yourself exclusively to reading the opinions but also look for the questions and answers section where other users can answer quickly and effortlessly. Amazon will suggest that we answer these questions when we have bought a product, so it can be extra and relevant information when deciding.
Like the above, there is nothing definitive to detect these opinions, but it is interesting to know that the online store has a guarantee that covers any problem we have if we have been deceived and what we received does not resemble what was requested.
