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Amazon and Google Reviews: The Greatest (and Most Pervasive) Lie on the Internet?
Scrolling through Amazon or Google in 2023 is quite a different experience than doing so maybe 10 years ago.
I don’t know about you, but when trying to make an informed decision about which product to buy, I have always leaned on customer reviews before actually pulling the trigger and making the purchase.
I read through the (MANY) glowing reviews, the (frequently) rave testimonials, and the (very) occasional criticism, thinking that I am getting a well-rounded picture of what to expect from a product.
But as my alarm bell casually raised over the last several years, I became fairly convinced that a significant chunk of the reviews I unconsciously rely on are fake.
That’s right, FAAAKE. As in, not written by real people who have actually used the product.
It’s a shocking truth, but one that we need to face head-on. The prevalence of fake reviews on platforms like Amazon and Google is staggering.
According to a 2020 study by fraudulent-review-detection firm Fakespot, out of…
