Amazon, Facebook Among Companies Facing FTC Warning Over Reviews (bloomberglaw.com) 14
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg Law: Companies including Amazon and Facebook could face fines over fake reviews or other misleading endorsements online, according to a warning from the Federal Trade Commission. The warning comes as social media has blurred the line between authentic content and advertising, according to the FTC's Wednesday announcement. Practices such as influencer marketing leave some consumers confused about when posters are paid to endorse a product, if their connection to the brand isn't clearly disclosed.
The agency sent more than 700 companies a notice that they could incur penalties of up to $43,792 per violation if they use endorsements in ways that run counter to past FTC enforcement cases. The notices demonstrate FTC chair Lina Khan's efforts to ramp up enforcement under the commission's existing authorities, following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the agency's ability to seek monetary awards in court. The commission's move on endorsements relies on an agency authority that allows for civil penalties against a company that engages in conduct that it knows has been found unlawful in a previous FTC administrative order, other than a consent order.
The agency sent more than 700 companies a notice that they could incur penalties of up to $43,792 per violation if they use endorsements in ways that run counter to past FTC enforcement cases. The notices demonstrate FTC chair Lina Khan's efforts to ramp up enforcement under the commission's existing authorities, following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that limited the agency's ability to seek monetary awards in court. The commission's move on endorsements relies on an agency authority that allows for civil penalties against a company that engages in conduct that it knows has been found unlawful in a previous FTC administrative order, other than a consent order.
Fake reviews? Paid endorsements? I'm shocked. (Score:3)
You mean everything on the internet isn't true, no matter what Einstein said? Those 5* reviews on Amazon may be fake?
Paid endorsements could require a tagline saying the person was paid. As for reviews, I like to look at the 4 and 3 star ones to get an idea of the products quality; guessing shills won't post 4 or 3 star ones for fear of impacting ratings.
Re:Fake reviews? Paid endorsements? I'm shocked. (Score:4, Insightful)
Me, I read the 1's and 2's because they let me know what goes wrong. Any cluster of badness reasons (if it matters to me) is a red flag.
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The reviews are real but here's what happens. Since amazon is now a flea market anyone can sell anything. You sell some random widget for a while and it gets good reviews. Now the time comes to unload all the garbage. You revise the listing to show your new garbage and the previous good reviews are still there. Ever see reviews that aren't even for the same product being advertised? That is why.
While on the topic, my wife started receiving unsolicited products on her prime account. It started with a cat toy
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While on the topic, my wife started receiving unsolicited products on her prime account. It started with a cat toy, then a weather survival radio, then every week it was an ultrasonic dog training device. This is supposedly a common scam to get reviews but nobody can really explain how it works. I can't leave a review because the order was never on my account. The dog training devices were listed for $80! I thought about selling them on eBay but who knows if they even work and I'd probably have to refund people.
I had that as well except it was coffee mugs and women's hats. My guess is they setup bogus accounts, sell something expensive but ship something cheap and then write a glowing revue. A friend like the hats and I donated the coffee mugs to a local thrift shop.
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I have been banned for life from leaving reviews on Amazon.
Why? I have no idea. I left five or so reviews for items I purchased. Nothing extreme or weird or anything. Each review was cancelled and then I was banned outright from ever participating in Amazon community involvement for the rest of my existence. (But they'll still take my money.)
No discussion. No appeals. I emailed customer service and never received a reply.
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Amazon reviews are worse than useless (Score:2)
Reviews of this post:
* * * * * Excellent service, timely delivery.
* It did not cure my rash, would not read again.
* Someone stole this from my porch, I am now upset.
* * * * Solid post, but did not discuss
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Except that there are reviews for EVERYTHING! Pencils. They have reviews for friggin pencils, with both 1 and 5 stars, a bunch of useless amateur pencil critic fan-fic reviews. If I'm buying an auto (which should never happen on Amazon) the reviews matter and I will never pay attention whatsoever to an amateur reviewer. But even for expensive items it's highly annoying. I checked out portable A/Cs (which I bought elsewhere) and they're all essentially identical in every way, so you buy on cost, but the
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Ratings are Lies Without Zero Star (Score:2)
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Ratings are overrated. Seriously they don't mean anything. They don't tell you anything about quality, suitability for purpose, or anything like that. All I want to know is will it work, will it be made of quality parts versus will it break in the first month? I don't care about someone who rated it low because it didn't fit in the nook where they wanted it to go, or for a complex item (a network router with multiple wifi bands and security features) I don't care about a 5 star rerview when someone says
The GOVERNMENT puts itself FIRST too (Score:2)