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

(blog.truestar.pro)
406 points doppio19 | 2 comments | 01 Jul 25 20:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.003s | source
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mohsen1 ◴[02 Jul 25 06:22 UTC] No.44440740[source]▶
مشک آن است که خود ببوید نه آنکه عطار بگوید

“Musk is that which smells by itself, not what the perfumer says (about it).”

This line is from Saadi Shirazi, the classical Persian poet which has become a proverb in Persian speaking world. Reviews are at this point what the seller wants you to read.

As long as Amazon is the seller, and host of the reviews there is no way to trust Amazon would be fair in hosting those reviews.

The only way to know about a product is to read about it elsewhere like New York Times which is not selling the product themselves.

replies(1): >>44444828 #
1. the_sleaze_ ◴[02 Jul 25 15:20 UTC] No.44444828[source]▶
More often than not those sources are getting paid for product placement. Wire-cutter, NYT, JD Power, Wired - they all get advertisement money for "reviews".
replies(1): >>44446936 #
2. shermantanktop ◴[02 Jul 25 18:06 UTC] No.44446936[source]▶
Of course. But they have a reputational stake in their recommendation as well.

I take a Wirecutter top pick as meaning something very different from Bobby123's glowing review. Wirecutter may have been influenced by ad money a bit. Bobby123 may not even exist or may be entirely driven by seller compensation. And I'll never see Bobby123 again.