How real is that review?
Do you know about the recent fake Amazon review bust? Investigators discovered millions of messages between sellers and buyers that revealed free products in return for five-star reviews. So how can you tell what reviews are real?
Watch out for these flags:
- Does the review make sense? Be aware of poor spelling and grammar, outrageous praise, or descriptions that don’t match the product listing.
- Did multiple product reviews get posted within a short period of time? A seller may be trying to boost their stats with false ratings. If you see a sudden jump in 5-star ratings, those reviews are probably fake.
- Do many of the reviews have the same brief comments? They might be fake.
- If a review doesn’t talk about the product itself or uses non-descriptive, generic language, it could be machine-written.
- Even one-star reviews can be fake! Scammers may be trying to wreck the ratings of other sellers.
Want to be able to weed out the fake reviews so you can make an educated decision about your Amazon purchases? Here at Hopedale Technologies, we look closely at the 2-star and 4-star reviews. They are more likely to have honest feedback!
Still not sure if you will be able to pick out the real reviews? Try a web extension like Fakespot or ReviewMeta. They help take the guesswork out of reviews by weeding out the fluff.