Amazon claims to be combating fake reviews and spotting fake comments by utilizing the most recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI).
Fake review "brokers," which are a major issue for the tech giant's shopping site, have been a source of contention.
To assist it in identifying fraudulent behavior, Amazon has invested in machine learning models that analyze a large volume of data.
The action is still "nowhere near enough," according to UK consumer group Which?
To buy, sell, and host fake reviews, fake review brokers use third-party platforms like social media and encrypted messaging services.
Fake reviews can influence customers to make decisions about what laptop or children's toy to buy, for instance, based on what they believe to be genuine feedback from other customers, when in reality someone has been paid to write a positive review to boost a seller's ratings or to discredit a competitor company.
Generic information or a disproportionately high number of five-star reviews can be a telltale sign, though they aren't always easy to spot.
More than 23,000 social media groups that enabled fake reviews had more than 46 million members and followers, according to Amazon's 2022 report.
Amazon has been using AI to combat fake reviews for a while, but the company claims that continued spending on more "sophisticated tools" should enhance protection for buyers and sellers on its marketplace.
According to the business, its fraud-detection AI can assess a number of variables to determine the likelihood that a review is fake. This can include the connection the author has to other online accounts, their sign-in history, their review history, and any odd behavior.
Dharmesh Mehta, the head of Amazon's customer trust team, told the BBC that his team uses machine learning to search for suspicious accounts and to track connections between a customer account that leaves a review and a seller of a particular product.
"We can stop those fake reviews before a customer ever encounters them through a combination of both important vetting and really advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence," he said.
According to Harry Kind of Which?, in the UK, some estimates indicate that about one in seven online customer reviews are fake.
The use of various technologies by Amazon to combat fake reviews appears to be working in some cases.
But, he continued, "as far as we're concerned, it's still nowhere near enough to solve this enormous problem.".
The consumer advocacy group claimed that fake reviews significantly increased consumers' propensity to select subpar goods.
Announcing that it had blocked over 200 million suspected fake reviews last year using the new techniques it had created, Amazon said it would "continue to build sophisticated tools that protect customers.".
But in order to increase the effectiveness of the strategy, the retail platform is urging greater coordination between the private sector, consumer advocacy organizations, and governments.
It is anticipated that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the regulator in this area, will have more legal authority after passage of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill by the UK parliament.
Which? praised Amazon for calling for a more cooperative strategy, but demanded that the UK legislation go further than it currently does "by explicitly making the buying, selling, and hosting of fake reviews subject to criminal enforcement. ".
Fake review "factories," it was claimed on Facebook, were still simple to find when trading reviews for Amazon and other websites.
The CMA claimed it had already taken significant steps to punish those who trade in false or deceptive reviews.
An official with the CMA stated: "Our investigations into fake reviews, including the Amazon case, are ongoing, and additional updates will be provided later this year. ".
The owners of NiceRebate . com, a fake review broker targeting British customers, were recently sued by Amazon in the UK.
The same operators' other websites were also taken down, and they were simultaneously sued in the US.
According to Mr. Mehta, "We are battling review brokers aggressively.".
He claimed that 94 of these "bad actors," including fraudsters in the US, China, and Europe, had been targeted by Amazon.
