←back to thread

FTC's rule banning fake online reviews goes into effect

(abcnews.go.com)
613 points indus | 1 comments | 22 Oct 24 15:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.224s | source
Show context
bragr ◴[22 Oct 24 15:27 UTC] No.41915238[source]▶
Does the regulation say anything about deceptively moderating reviews? e.g. deleting all the low star reviews?

edit: it doesn't seem so. You just have use some weasel language:

>The final rule also bars a business from misrepresenting that the reviews on a review portion of its website represent all or most of the reviews submitted when reviews have been suppressed based upon their ratings or negative sentiment.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/08/...

replies(4): >>41915320 #>>41915513 #>>41916025 #>>41916194 #
onlyrealcuzzo ◴[22 Oct 24 15:48 UTC] No.41915513[source]▶
How does this stop one of the most common practices?

* Step 1, take a product with a terrible rating

* Step 2, create a new SKU for the exact same product so it has no ratings

* Step 3, get a handful of fake 5-star reviews (in some way the FTC isn't going to crack down on)

* Step 4, blast the old terribly reviewed product that now has good reviews on marketing

* Step 5, get 10s of thousands of sales, $$$

* Step 6, let the terrible reviews pour in

Repeat to step 1 (possibly under a different brand name).

replies(12): >>41915589 #>>41915601 #>>41915678 #>>41915693 #>>41915890 #>>41915989 #>>41916260 #>>41916563 #>>41916946 #>>41917132 #>>41923677 #>>41943260 #
s1artibartfast ◴[22 Oct 24 16:03 UTC] No.41915678[source]▶
Im curious about the opposite practice, sharing reviews across several SKUs. I basically stopped looking at reviews because they were unrelated to the one I was buying.

I get that some products have configurations, like color and size, but often times wildly different products are grouped together.

replies(2): >>41915744 #>>41915847 #
layer8 ◴[22 Oct 24 16:17 UTC] No.41915847[source]▶
On Amazon you can filter by the current configuration on the review page (at least on desktop).
replies(2): >>41916238 #>>41926717 #
1. mrandish ◴[23 Oct 24 16:37 UTC] No.41926717[source]▶
I do this all the time because so many sellers bundle disparate products under one listing and rating. It's annoying that Amazon buries the option in the "See More Reviews" page which is only linked near the bottom of a product page.