Saturday 24th July 2021
Many legal proceedings are ongoing
Amazon deletes millions of fake reviews
Many buyers base their product selection on the reviews of other buyers. They are counterfeited millions of times at the giant Amazon. The group is taking consistent action against this, investing a lot of money and taking legal action against sellers and agencies.
According to “Spiegel”, the US shipping giant Amazon located and deleted more than 200 million false product reviews, so-called “fake reviews”, worldwide. This was shown by internal information, reported the magazine. Just a few years ago, the number communicated by Amazon was 13 million.
The group has initiated 30 legal proceedings in Germany alone since 2018 and obtained 17 injunctions in the past few years, the magazine reported. The online retailer has enforced 150,000 euros in fines against sellers and agencies who try to manipulate sales with the purchased reviews.
The number of “fake reviews” is growing rapidly
The growth in the number of incorrect product reviews is immense, quoted the “Spiegel” from the group. The reason is also the “continuous improvement in recognition”. The group now spends 700 million dollars (595 million euros) worldwide on employees and software in order to discover fake assessments. In Germany, legal prosecution is sometimes difficult because offering fake product reviews is not generally a criminal offense, it said.
Not only Amazon, but also other companies are taking legal action against sellers of incorrect reviews. This is also a problem for travel portals, for example, when invented hotel reviews can be found there. However, civil lawsuits against the valuation sellers are sometimes difficult because they often operate from abroad.
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