Topline
Amazon sued two companies on Tuesday that it accused of helping clients plant fake product reviews on Amazon’s marketplace, part of the e-commerce giant’s years-long legal push to stop false reviews from permeating on its site.
An employee prepares a package for shipment at the Amazon logistics center near Magdeburg, eastern … [+]
Key Facts
In a statement announcing the lawsuits, Amazon called the two companies—AppSally and Rebatest—“major fake review brokers,” claiming they’re part of a larger industry that offers money or free products to people willing to write glowing Amazon reviews.
Amazon accused AppSally and Rebatest of violating Washington state’s consumer protection law by deceiving customers, and asked a state court judge in Seattle to prohibit the two firms from selling Amazon reviews in the future and order them to pay unspecified damages.
The company alleged AppSally sells fake reviews for as little as $20, directing its clients to send photos of their products to accompany review-writers’ submissions (AppSally appears to openly sell Amazon reviews online, though its website claims it doesn’t have any power over whether its reviewers offer positive or negative feedback).
Meanwhile, Rebatest allegedly asks review-writers to purchase products on Amazon and later reimburses them via Paypal for leaving favorable reviews, according to court documents (on its website, Rebatest frames itself as a “product trial platform” that allows users to test products in exchange for 100% rebates).
Rebatest and AppSally did not respond to requests for comment from Forbes.
Crucial Quote
“Defendants are actively deceiving Amazon’s customers and tarnishing Amazon’s brand for their own profit as well as the profit of bad actors selling in Amazon’s store,” Amazon said in its lawsuit against Rebatest.
Key Background
Amazon prohibits sellers from offering money, discounts or other incentives in exchange for product reviews—or hiring third-party services to facilitate review-writing. Still, Amazon has grappled with phony product reviews for years, despite efforts to proactively find and delete falsified reviews through automated screening and human moderation. Sellers may seek to place fake reviews both to win over prospective customers and to boost their products’ rankings on Amazon’s store, Amazon said in Tuesday’s lawsuits. In recent years, the company has occasionally filed lawsuits or demanded arbitration against fake review-writers, product sellers and the brokers who connect the two parties. Last year, fake review brokers in the United Kingdom and Germany were shut down due to legal action, Amazon says.
Tangent
In 2019, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against a company accused of planting fake reviews for its weight-loss products on Amazon. The defendants later agreed to a monetary judgment.
Further Reading
Fake Reviews and Inflated Ratings Are Still a Problem for Amazon (Wall Street Journal)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/02/22/amazon-sues-two-companies-for-allegedly-selling-fake-product-reviews/