Are reviews risky? Amazon's fake review rules have come into effect, and bad reviews that violate the rules will be banned

Are reviews risky? Amazon's fake review rules have come into effect, and bad reviews that violate the rules will be banned



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On the Amazon platform, the problem of "false" reviews is not uncommon.
At present, the "False Reviews Final Rule" has been officially implemented. On August 14, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a new rule aimed at regulating consumer reviews and recommendations, which will take effect on October 21, 2024. Many merchants are puzzled by this. Can the new rule effectively reduce the phenomenon of false reviews on Amazon?

I. Implementation of the Final Rules on False Reviews
The regulation is part of the FTC's crackdown on deceptive online advertising.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the fraudulent practices that the Misleading Reviews Final Rule targets in the review space:
Businesses may not engage in the creation, sale, purchase or dissemination of false or misleading consumer reviews, testimonials and celebrity endorsements. Specifically, the rule prohibits such reviews and testimonials from being written by individuals who have not personally experienced the subject of the review, who misrepresent their personal experience, or who conceal the reviewer’s identity.
Reviews that purchase or incentivize specific emotions. For example, a business may not offer rewards for customers giving a favorable review of its products or a negative review of a competitor's products.
The comments or recommendations of company employees shall not conceal the relationship between the employees and the company. At the same time, company employees shall not ask family members for comments, nor ask employees to ask family members for comments.
Do not falsely represent that a review site controlled by the company provides independent reviews or opinions when discussing the company's own products or services.
Suppressing negative consumer reviews through improper means, such as unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, or false public accusations. Companies also may not misrepresent the review section of their site when reviews are suppressed due to negativity or low ratings.
Buying or selling "false social media influence metrics" for commercial purposes. For example, social media accounts may not purchase fake followers generated by bots or hijacked accounts to sell advertising or misrepresent brand awareness.
These behaviors are quite common on the Amazon platform. Reviews directly affect the sales of Amazon sellers, so some sellers do not hesitate to add "false reviews"; some sellers add "false reviews" to their competitors, that is, bad reviews.
Despite Amazon's efforts to curb false reviews, they still happen frequently.

2. Unexpectedly received more than 1,500 comments
Recently, sellers found that a product called breathing training machine was listed on the best-selling list (BS) with only one review. Some sellers suspected that a big player might have pushed this new product to the list through off-site means, because this product is nothing special compared to competing products.
When I checked the link again yesterday, I unexpectedly found that the number of reviews had surged to more than 1,500. I clicked on it and found that these reviews were actually merged from a completely unrelated product operated by Amazon. How was this achieved? Is it a new technical method?
Sellers’ pursuit of reviews has never changed, and it has also spawned various “new strategies”.
Some sellers have heard that there is an operation that uses unbranded products, changes the manufacturer's name to the brand to be merged, and then realizes the merger through some mysterious forms. The specific operation details are still unclear.
Some sellers also boasted of their "superb skills" by finding brands with the same name and merging their own links. They did not dare to directly indicate brand sales, but their advertising investment was huge, so naturally their rankings all jumped to the top . I don't know what strategy they used to get on the homepage.
Some sellers also said that this technical means has existed last year and may be a kind of mirror operation.
It is not clear how this phenomenon works. Although reviews can drive sales, sellers must also abide by regulations when doing so to avoid being held accountable by Amazon.

The information provided in this article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice.




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