People love to go shopping.
The act of buying something new fills a desire you might have for a certain product. It was common practice for us to go to a store and personally inspect and even try the product we want to purchase.
Now online shopping is more popular than ever. Instead of inspecting the products ourselves, consumers heavily rely on the firsthand reviews posted on the product page.
Online shoppers tend to trust the word of their fellow shoppers. Seeing a product rated as five stars is like getting the thumbs up from a buddy. Since people cannot personally inspect the items they want to buy, reading and making judgements based on that is the next best thing. And we all know that good reviews can help increase sales on Amazon!
The question is, what if the reviews are fake? Do you know how to spot fake reviews on Amazon especially?
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How to check for fake Amazon reviews
There are a few ways to test the validity of the reviews for a particular product. Thankfully, with the help of advanced algorithms, specific programs have been created to detect the legitimacy of the reviews on the product page.
Fakespot Amazon Review Checker
Fakespot is one of the most popular and reliable web-based engines that can filter a product link to detect the percentage of fake Amazon reviews. It’s as simple going to the Amazon product page, copying the link and pasting it on Fakespot.
Download the Fakespot app on your Android or iOS device to have immediate access to the service on your smartphone. You can also download the Fakespot browser extension for chrome, firefox and safari.
Filter a product page with a click of the Fakespot icon on your browser for an immediate analysis of the products reviews. The program engine will then analyse all the reviews and reviewers that are on that product page.
Many factors are taken into account when Fakespot analyses a page. These include:
- Wrong spelling
- Bad grammar
- Patterns in purchasing
- Number of reviews
- and several other red flags
Usually, a review that has multiple lapses in grammar is a dead giveaway for being a fake Amazon review.
Once the analysis is done, the result is graded by Fakespot just like in school. F indicates a fail and many fake reviews on the product page.
You are advised to be wary of the product since the reviews are more than 50% fake. Positive and negative reviews from both verified purchase customers plus non-verified purchase reviewers can be fake as well. Keep that in mind when deciding which seller to buy from.
Armed with the knowledge that you have learned about the product, you would be more careful when making your purchase. For results that are an A, B, or C then those pass the analysis with very few or no fake reviews.
These are the kind of products that you can purchase with some peace of mind. What’s more, Fakespot is a completely free to use tool.
ReviewMeta Amazon Review Checker
Another excellent tool to detect fake reviews is ReviewMeta. This Amazon review checker works the same way that Fakespot does. Merely copy the product page link and paste it to ReviewMeta.
The system would then analyse the data, but instead of returning with a grade as a result, ReviewMeta will show you the adjusted rating of the product. The result would also indicate how many possible fake reviews there are.
ReviewMeta has a lot of information about the reviews and the reviewers. There are charts plus graphs which represent the pertinent date and are easy to understand.
These are two easy ways for how to check your Amazon reviews. Both websites work to provide the consumer with accurate data regarding reviews on Amazon. The results would help the consumer make the better choice when deciding what product to purchase.
Amazon’s review terms
Amazon changed their terms back in 2016 and prohibited incentivised reviews. This means that sellers are not allowed to give products for free or at a discount in exchange for a good review. The text below is a copy of Amazon’s new terms since then.
Amazon states:
“You may not provide compensation, including free or discounted products for a review. Review solicitations that ask only for positive reviews or that offer compensation are prohibited. You may not ask buyers to modify or remove reviews.”
The problem here is that Amazon themselves have been doing what they say other sellers cannot do. Amazon has a program called the Amazon Vine Reviewer program. This has been around since 2007; select people get discounted or free products which are then reviewed.
Amazon only offers this service to top sellers; it is by invitation only. The funny thing is Amazon has prohibited sellers from doing the same thing. So some sellers are frustrated with this fact.
Some sellers will walk the straight and narrow, only waiting for organic reviews. Great sellers will still follow Amazon’s new terms but also learn how to get reviews on Amazon the right way.
Other sellers will do anything by hook or by crook to get reviews using any means at their disposal, including purchasing reviews. Purchasing Amazon reviews can get your Amazon seller account suspended, which can be difficult or even impossible to have reinstated!
Negative reviews
For customers that leave negative reviews on your product page, the best thing a seller can do is provide excellent customer service. After sales service is just as important; or even more so than the sale itself. Offer to fix any reasonable issue a customer may have regarding their purchase.
If you fail to rectify an issue for a customer, you can bet that they will tell their family and friends to not do business with you. Not to mention writing a negative review on Amazon. Use an email autoresponder to touch base with customers and address any and all concerns they have.
Even negative reviews can sometimes be fake too. There are multiple reports of instances where a competitor hires a company or some people to purchase a product and write negative reviews to ruin their competitions reputation.
What does verified purchase mean on Amazon reviews?
You may have noticed the ‘verified purchase’ tag on some Amazon reviews. ‘Verified purchase’ on Amazon means that the reviewer purchased the item through Amazon, and that Amazon has been able to track this. To gain this tag, the reviewer also needs to have spent over $50 to legitimize their account and their purchase..
These type of reviews are usually considered to be the legitimate ones since people that have actually bought the product create them. The thing is, it is possible for these type of reviews to be manufactured or fake as well.
The best thing you can do to protect your purchase is to utilise Amazon reviewer websites that can check the validity of the product page. Other than that you can also report any scrupulous reviews to Amazon support.
Learn how to spot fake reviews on Amazon
Online shopping is the new norm. Consumers reading and believing the reviews on the product are unsuspecting targets for unscrupulous sellers. However, now you know how to spot fake reviews on Amazon!
If you don’t have time to read each review yourself and discern the fakes from the real ones, then use Fakespot or ReviewMeta to filter product pages. Don’t be lazy and take an extra couple of minutes to protect your wallet by using these tools.