People Are Being Paid Up To RM4,700 To Write Fake Reviews Online
Not everything you read is true.
By John Lim — 22 Jun 2018, 05:56 PM
As the shopping landscape shifts from traditional brick and mortar to e-commerce websites, shoppers are more dependent on reviews to determine the legitimacy of businesses or the authenticity of products
The common school of thought tells us to always shop from merchants with good, positive reviews.
But it seems this foolproof way to online shopping is not as secure as it is made out to be.
A recent report by Channel NewsAsia's Talking Point programme sheds light on the rise of fabricated reviews on online sites
The programme details the account of Lynn (not her real name), an online reviewer who rates products on shopping websites like Taobao.
Lynn does not try out the products in person. In fact, it is not a job requirement. All she needs to do is to leave a positive review and gets paid for it.
Channel NewsAsia says Lynn is part of a legion of fake reviewers secretly hired by recruiting firms to help "manage the online reputations of businesses." A recruiting company revealed it has about 80,000 hires in this region.
Lynn takes in around SGD1,600 (RM4,720) monthly for her work, which consists of writing three to four reviews a month
"They send me the link to the product, then they would ask me to give a good review," she told Singapore-based news portal.
While consumers might view this practice as dishonest and fraudulent, a recruiter asserted that it is more of a "marketing strategy"
"When customers shop online, they would only browse the top few sellers listed on the search. With brushing, we are able to boost our rankings so that we’re visible when customers do a search for products," the recruiter said.
However, Taobao is not the only shopping website facing problems with fake reviews. They have popped up on Amazon as well.
An examination by The Washington Post found that fake reviews were evident in popular categories like Bluetooth speakers and earphones. These reviews had certain characteristics, such as repetitive wording that people probably cut and paste in.
Amazon's plague of inauthentic reviews was also the topic of a BuzzFeed article, which detailed how social media platforms like Reddit and Facebook played a part in creating systems responsible for this practice.
How can shoppers tell a bogus review from a legitimate one?
“Consumers can look for more balanced reviews with pros and cons on the products. They can also go into other websites, search for the same products and read the reviews too, and have a more balanced view," said Koh Noi Sian, a data analytics lecturer from Nanyang Polytechnic.
Experts at Digital Trends recommend using websites like ReviewMeta and Fakespot for discerning the quality and legitimacy of online reviews. Do note the mentioned sites may not work on all platforms, such as Taobao and Lazada.
Telling fact from fiction is getting more and more difficult online. Be extra careful, everyone. Always research before making a purchase.