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    Fakespot shuts down today after 9 years of detecting fake product reviews

    (blog.truestar.pro)
    406 points doppio19 | 26 comments | 01 Jul 25 20:26 UTC | HN request time: 1.042s | source | bottom
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    dankwizard ◴[02 Jul 25 02:16 UTC] No.44439699[source]▶
    It was falling behind. The dodgy stores were getting more creative and Fakespot needed to play catch up.

    You've got stores that would include a $5-$20 coupon/gift card in the item in exchange for a positive review. Sure, this didn't 1:1 translate but if a user did it would look like a legitimate review.

    You've got a plethora of LLMs out there just itching to GENERATE.

    Then an expensive option I was suprised happened - I bought a Dyson clone vacuum cleaner off of Amazon. A few weeks later, the company emailed me and said 'We have a new model. Buy that one, leave a review, we'll refund the purchase'. So I did it. This happened about 10 more times in 2024. My outdoor shed is entirely stick vacuums.

    Feel a bit dirty doing it but that's ok I've got 12 vacuums that can clean my conscience.

    I think Fakespot would have difficulty with all 3 of these scenarios.

    replies(19): >>44439710 #>>44439760 #>>44439818 #>>44440150 #>>44440187 #>>44440232 #>>44440258 #>>44440360 #>>44441005 #>>44441152 #>>44441234 #>>44441357 #>>44441565 #>>44441625 #>>44442564 #>>44442881 #>>44442918 #>>44443269 #>>44444404 #
    1. Retr0id ◴[02 Jul 25 02:48 UTC] No.44439818[source]▶
    I can understand going for the "free upgrade" the first time around, but why continue racking up more vacuum cleaners after that? Do you plan to sell them later?
    replies(6): >>44439842 #>>44439871 #>>44440028 #>>44440272 #>>44442864 #>>44445932 #
    2. michaelbuckbee ◴[02 Jul 25 02:52 UTC] No.44439842[source]▶
    Stocking up to give them out at Christmas?
    3. Mtinie ◴[02 Jul 25 02:57 UTC] No.44439871[source]▶
    It’s the rational option if someone is giving you something for less than it costs you and the moral implications of the action is minimal (at best).
    replies(3): >>44440274 #>>44440753 #>>44443118 #
    4. dankwizard ◴[02 Jul 25 03:31 UTC] No.44440028[source]▶
    You sound like my wife. I don't know. I grew up kind of poor and my mindset still has a "If I can get an item typically worth $100-200 for free, TAKE IT".

    The plan was to flip them on FB market place but I've just hoarded them.

    replies(4): >>44440368 #>>44440422 #>>44441168 #>>44447732 #
    5. lt_kernelpanic ◴[02 Jul 25 04:29 UTC] No.44440272[source]▶
    Obviously, the plan is to eventually collect enough to construct a Dyson sphere.
    replies(1): >>44440443 #
    6. shawnz ◴[02 Jul 25 04:29 UTC] No.44440274[source]▶
    Sure, but consider the costs of consuming your space with junk. Now you have less room for things you care about, there's a maintenance burden, and there's a mental burden as well
    replies(3): >>44440438 #>>44440877 #>>44441461 #
    7. cjbgkagh ◴[02 Jul 25 04:59 UTC] No.44440368[source]▶
    Fake reviewer vs low ballers…
    8. whilenot-dev ◴[02 Jul 25 05:09 UTC] No.44440422[source]▶
    this example suggests that you'd be happy to get paid in an alternative currency in exchange for Amazon reviews, and that currency is vacuums?! tbh I think your wife is right and you know it.
    replies(1): >>44441834 #
    9. ozgrakkurt ◴[02 Jul 25 05:15 UTC] No.44440438{3}[source]▶
    Not having things and regretting passing up on something is much more real for people that had problem with money before.

    Having too many things is just abstract unless you had that problem maybe

    replies(1): >>44440524 #
    10. shawnz ◴[02 Jul 25 05:34 UTC] No.44440524{4}[source]▶
    Is 12 vacuums abstract?
    replies(1): >>44440704 #
    11. ozgrakkurt ◴[02 Jul 25 06:14 UTC] No.44440704{5}[source]▶
    It is abstract in the sense that you might not see why that would be a problem
    12. probably_wrong ◴[02 Jul 25 06:26 UTC] No.44440753[source]▶
    All moral implications are minimal if your morals are flexible enough.

    The OP is effectively taking thousands of dollars in bribes to erode public trust. I think even a child would see that this is wrong.

    I know every man has their price, but I hope when the time comes my price will be higher than "a bunch of vacuums I don't need and I can't even be bothered to sell".

    replies(2): >>44441078 #>>44447386 #
    13. olyjohn ◴[02 Jul 25 06:55 UTC] No.44440877{3}[source]▶
    Yes, but were the vacuums actually good? He left 10 reviews for this company, which may have led other people to buy them, and made this company look better than it is... just so he could stuff his shed full of them? That's kinda fucked up. He even said he felt kinda shady about it, so my guess is that the reviews weren't honest.
    replies(2): >>44441185 #>>44443321 #
    14. tempestn ◴[02 Jul 25 07:34 UTC] No.44441078{3}[source]▶
    To be fair, he didn't specify that the reviews were false. Maybe he only agreed because he legitimately likes the vacuums. I think if someone offered me a product I like for free in return for a review, I'd do it. I wouldn't leave a positive review on a bad product though.
    replies(1): >>44441097 #
    15. dns_snek ◴[02 Jul 25 07:38 UTC] No.44441097{4}[source]▶
    Come on, let's be honest here, they wouldn't keep sending you products for free if you left anything less than a stellar review. That's the entire problem with incentivized reviews.
    16. ◴[02 Jul 25 07:55 UTC] No.44441168[source]▶
    17. themdonuts ◴[02 Jul 25 07:57 UTC] No.44441185{4}[source]▶
    This is the best summary.
    18. yard2010 ◴[02 Jul 25 09:59 UTC] No.44441834{3}[source]▶
    It's a waste of internet space writing tautologies. The wife is always right.
    replies(1): >>44442842 #
    19. malfist ◴[02 Jul 25 12:21 UTC] No.44442842{4}[source]▶
    Good thing the Internet isn't almost out of space
    20. BeFlatXIII ◴[02 Jul 25 12:23 UTC] No.44442864[source]▶
    Christmas gifts for the whole family.
    21. km144 ◴[02 Jul 25 12:49 UTC] No.44443118[source]▶
    Probably the most HN-coded response I can imagine to someone asking why you would possibly want 12 vacuum cleaners.
    replies(1): >>44450987 #
    22. beAbU ◴[02 Jul 25 13:12 UTC] No.44443321{4}[source]▶
    What is the difference between doing this, and any product review currently available on youtube?
    23. triceratops ◴[02 Jul 25 16:49 UTC] No.44445932[source]▶
    > why continue racking up more vacuum cleaners after that?

    This guy took bribes to leave fake reviews. He obviously sucks. /s

    24. dsign ◴[02 Jul 25 18:46 UTC] No.44447386{3}[source]▶
    I see where you are coming from, but this is Amazon, a juggernaut which is impossible to render accountable. So, OP is effectively filling their shed space with things which are useless to them and whose monetary value they won't realize. They are also tainting their soul. But by posting fake reviews, they erode trust on Amazon and cause it (some) financial harm. OP is, thus, doing a public service at some personal expense.

    I often buy products from Amazon based on how fast they can deliver, with the soonest being approximately five days where I live. They routinely advertise one delivery time and deliver three or four days later, which essentially is false advertising and harmful to local businesses who could easily compete on delivery time. And this is Amazon fulfillment.

    25. wildzzz ◴[02 Jul 25 19:17 UTC] No.44447732[source]▶
    Just hand them out as gifts to friends and family. Stick vacs for Christmas. Maybe keep a spare handy when the first one eventually breaks.
    26. Mtinie ◴[03 Jul 25 02:15 UTC] No.44450987{3}[source]▶
    Who knows. I have lots of siblings and my spouse does as well, so that’s nine vacuums accounted for. Add in both sets of parents and I’d have one left over to gift to someone who also needs one.

    I’m not sure how to take your comment other than uncharitably so I’ll just concede that you obviously have smaller dust collection needs than I do.