Why Amazon Choices Can’t Always Be Trusted
Have you ever seen a product labeled “Amazon’s Choice” while shopping online? It turns out that this icon doesn’t mean anything at all.
According to Amazon, the label is assigned automatically to products based on an algorithm – supposedly based on positive reviews and price – but in the end, reviews aren’t always that reliable. They can be easily faked or tampered with. Since this label is based on an algorithm and not Amazon researching the product on its own, quality control is hardly a guarantee.
According to Buzzfeed News, on this week Buzzfeed News reported that this was one product that is marked as “Selecting Amazon»:
An Amazon RD customer left a one-star review for a faulty pet hair vacuum cleaner, but after she received a refund, the review was deleted without her consent. She contacted Amazon to report this, then attempted to post a negative review. Amazon did not respond and its second review was never approved. “The vacuum cleaner continues to have great reviews and is listed in the Amazon Choice list. The whole incident deeply moved me, ”she said.
In other words, some of Amazon’s Choices look terrible.
While reviewing several dozen items for sale by Amazon, Buzzfeed News drew attention to a baby thermometer, flask, breathalyzer and dog collar, all of which either had serious quality problems, had changed reviews, or reviews for others completely unrelated. products on his list that could have been by accident . (The chargers listed Macbook Pro were reviews of pistachios and a sewing machine, and a collar for dogs have been several reviews of Drag Race RuPaul.)
Likewise, Amazon’s recommendations are especially problematic when you find products with only a few reviews. Here is a list of recommended gaming monitors:
A total of 15 reviews were written, 2 of which were considered “critical” or bad.
Digging a little deeper, seven of these 13 positive reviews were written by Amazon Vine members – customers who were “verified” by Amazon and received the console for free (although taxed as income for Vine members).
This doesn’t necessarily mean that these reviews are unreliable, but there are some pretty obvious questions about bias . Again, this product has only 15 reviews, and that’s a noticeably small number that has received what is known as the Amazon seal of approval. Ironically, there are also two versions of the above – one with the icon and one without (although otherwise they are almost identical).
“We launched Amazon’s Choice in 2015 as a way to make shopping easier for customers by highlighting high-value, low-cost products that are ready to ship immediately for the most popular searches on Amazon,” the company said in a statement to Buzzfeed News. it is to remove the label if the company determines that this recommendation should not be made.
So what do you do instead of depending on the “Amazon Choice” label? As we wrote earlier , critically evaluate reviews: if the reviewer has a completely different experience than other reviewers, or there is a mass of positive (or negative) reviews with one comment on the proposal, then it is worth reconsidering the decision to buy the product. And look for verified purchases from users so you have a better chance of real reviews.
Reddit is another great resource; try doing an online search for the product you are hunting using Reddit and you should get a good idea of the actual quality and reliability of the product.