How to Determine if Amazon Reviews are Genuine

Online reviews play a crucial role in shaping consumer decisions. Amazon, being one of the largest online retail platforms, relies heavily on customer reviews to establish credibility and trust. However, with the rise of fraudulent activities and biased reviews, it has become essential to distinguish genuine reviews from deceptive ones. Here are some tips to help you determine if Amazon reviews are real:

1. Check for Balanced Reviews:

Authentic reviews present a balanced view of the product, highlighting both positive and negative aspects. Be wary of reviews that seem overly positive or entirely negative without offering specific details.

2. Analyze Language and Grammar:

Real reviews typically adhere to proper grammar and language usage. Reviews riddled with spelling errors, odd phrasing, or excessive use of capital letters may be suspicious.

3. Verify Purchase:

Amazon often labels reviews as “Verified Purchase” if the reviewer actually bought the product from the platform. Prioritize these reviews as they are more likely to be genuine.

4. Check for Similar Language and Phrasing:

Fraudulent reviews may use similar language or phrasing across multiple products. Look for patterns in reviews, especially if they sound like they’ve been copied and pasted.

5. Consider the Profile:

Visit the reviewer’s profile to gauge their reviewing history. A well-established profile with a history of reviews is more trustworthy than a recently created one with only one or two reviews.

6. Beware of Overly Positive Reviews:

If a product has an excessive number of extremely positive reviews, particularly within a short time frame, it could be a sign of manipulation.

7. Look for Specifics:

Authentic reviews provide specific details about the product, its features, and how it met or failed to meet the reviewer’s expectations. Vague or generic comments may raise suspicion.

8. Compare Reviews Across Sites:

Check if the product has reviews on other reputable websites. If the reviews significantly differ in tone or content, it might indicate manipulation.

9. Evaluate Reviewer’s Profile Picture:

While not foolproof, a genuine profile picture might indicate a real person. Be cautious of profiles without pictures or with generic images.

10. Watch for Repetitive Phrases:

Reviews that use identical phrases or words could be generated by bots or paid reviewers. Genuine reviews are unique and reflect personal experiences.

11. Research the Reviewer:

If a reviewer consistently gives similar products five-star ratings, they might be biased or incentivized. Cross-reference their reviews with other products to assess their credibility.

12. Consider Product Testing Organizations:

Some websites and organizations specialize in testing and reviewing products. Check if the product has been reviewed by such reputable sources to get an unbiased opinion.

13. Question Extreme Opinions:

Reviews that express extreme opinions without offering specific reasons may be exaggerations or false claims. Genuine reviews tend to be more balanced and nuanced.

14. Use Review Analysis Tools:

Several online tools and browser extensions can help analyze Amazon reviews, checking for patterns and suspicious activities. Utilize these resources for a more in-depth assessment.

Several analysis tools can assist in identifying potentially fake reviews on Amazon by examining patterns, language, and reviewer behavior. Here’s a summary of some commonly used tools and how they work:

1. ReviewMeta:

ReviewMeta is an online tool that helps users analyze Amazon reviews. It provides an adjusted rating after filtering out potentially biased or unnatural reviews. ReviewMeta assesses factors like review patterns, reviewer history, and more to determine the adjusted rating. However it does not take into account sellers that have used the Vine Program. It gives an unduly negative score to those that have participated in this program run by Amazon.

2. Keepa:

Keepa is a browser extension that provides historical price data for Amazon products. While it’s not specifically a review analysis tool, it can be useful in spotting trends related to pricing and discounts that might influence reviews.

3. Camelcamelcamel:

Camelcamelcamel is a price tracking tool that allows users to track product price history on Amazon. While it primarily focuses on pricing trends, it can indirectly help in identifying potential review manipulation by spotting sudden price drops or increases coinciding with unusual review patterns.

4. Wirecutter’s Review Checker:

Wirecutter, a product review site, has a Review Checker tool that analyzes Amazon reviews. Users can paste the Amazon product URL, and the tool helps identify suspicious patterns in the reviews, providing additional insight into their authenticity.

5. SpotFakeReviews:

SpotFakeReviews is a web-based tool that leverages machine learning to determine the probability of a review being fake. Users can input the Amazon product URL, and the tool provides an analysis of the reviews based on various criteria .

6. Fakespot:

Fakespot is a popular tool that analyzes Amazon product reviews, however its results have been under controversy in the last few years. The intent is that users can copy and paste the product URL into Fakespot’s website, which then evaluates the reviews and provides a grade (A to F) indicating the likelihood of fake reviews. It looks for suspicious patterns and reviews from unverified purchasers.

I have listed this tool last as I found it to be overly harsh, that is it gives products a poor rating either because they are new and don’t have many reviews yet or if they used the Amazon Vine Program. This Amazon review program is a legitimate way for a newly launched product to start getting unbiased reviews. However Fakespot penalizes seller’s that have used this program and refers to them as if they are fake reviews. So good honest sellers can easily show up with a very poor grade.

Apple App Store has actually taken down this app from its app store at the request of Amazon who says the app is inaccurate and creates security risks. Read more about this decision here.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/amazon-convinced-apple-to-remove-review-detector-fakespot-from-the-app-store/

Here is a comment from a buyer regarding the problems with FakeSpot:

ReviewMeta.com is a more reliable Amazon review analyzer tool than Fakespot but still gives new sellers negative rating either due to lack of enough review or because of participation in the Amazon run Vine Program.. Fakespot has the advantage of having been first on the scene, and is therefore much more well known.

All of these analytical algorithms are just making educated guesses, and are often wrong, but one big problem with Fakespot is that they don’t compare the ratings of the reviews they tag as fake with the rest of the reviews. If the average rating of the so-called fake reviews is no different then the average rating of the rest, then they are probably not any more fake than the others, and the adjusted rating should not be any different from Amazon’s average rating. Well intentioned quality products and sellers with real reviews are getting called out as fake for the wrong reasons. I am surprised they are not sued more often!

The truth is: none of these analyses are really that sophisticated. They’re all just making educated guesses, as I said, as to which reviews are fake, regardless of what they say about “artificial intelligence,“ etc. But once they make their educated guesses, you would hope they would generate their final verdict in an intelligent way, but sadly not always so.

Summary

These tools use a combination of algorithms, machine learning, and data analysis to detect suspicious activities and patterns associated with fake reviews. By examining factors such as review consistency, reviewer behavior, and language usage, they aim to assist consumers in making more informed purchasing decisions on Amazon. Keep in mind that while these tools can be helpful, using your own judgment and critical thinking is crucial when assessing reviews and products.

In conclusion, while Amazon reviews can be valuable resources for making informed purchase decisions, it’s crucial to approach them critically. By applying these tips and employing your judgment, you can better discern genuine reviews from potentially misleading ones. A low review count is not always a terrible thing, some of my favourite finds on Amazon have few reviews. This is usually simply a matter of the product being newly listed, and remember you can always return it if its not what you were hoping for!

Visit one of our Top Ten lists for a product category. Unlike other sites that seem to just follow each other down a rabbit hole and all say the same thing,  we analyze the top ten selling skincare products in a niche and dissect which ones you can trust and which you probably should not. You would be surprised how some of the top selling products are gaming the system and are riddled with fake reviews!!

Amazon Vine Reviews

Amazon Vine is a program designed to facilitate and encourage honest and unbiased product reviews on the Amazon platform. It operates by inviting select and trusted reviewers, called “Vine Voices,” to provide feedback and reviews on new or pre-release products from various brands. Amazon selects these reviewers based on their demonstrated history of providing helpful and genuine reviews.

When a company or seller participates in Amazon Vine, they provide their products to these Vine Voices for free. In return, the Vine Voices are expected to write detailed and candid reviews about the items they received, sharing their opinions and experiences. The purpose is to help other potential buyers make informed decisions by providing them with reliable and authentic feedback on products available on Amazon’s marketplace. The transparency and credibility of this review system aim to enhance the overall shopping experience for consumers. This a useful tool for sellers of a new product to gain some honest reviews at a time when their product is just being introduced to the market. The only problem is that some review analysis tools see these reviews and flag them as fakes. So when using these review tools if the product has used the Vine Voice then you cannot use these review tools with any amount of certainty as these vine voice reviews will be flagged and considered fake.