Spot fake Amazon reviews in a flash (CNET How To)

Is that 5-star rating legit? Here's how to find out for sure.

[wakkowarner]

just ignore the generic reviews and go for the ones that have the most detail in them, if someone took the time to write a long review it's more likely they are trying to inform you what they liked/disliked about the product

[Asuma]

You can also just sort the reviews by verified purchases.

[dragonknight]

As a reviewer myself, it's a pain in the hind quarters to us to get lumped in with these paid off/fake reviews that pop up on Amazon and so many other sites....some of us work really hard on our reviews, spending lots of our own cash to both buy and use the products we review. I've been flagged on FS particularly a few times as being a fake review simply because I gave said item a 5 star rating and used some of their trigger terms like "it's great" and "well made". You really need to read up on, or at least look at, the reviewers profile that you're reading, it can really help separate the fake from the real. As Rick says, use your own judgement in the end.

[TheKomentor]

Most 5 star and 1 star reviews are fake. The 2-4 star reviews usually are trying to give an accurate description of the product's performance.

[topandrun]

I learned that the hard way. I never knew that Amazon actually had fake reviews until recently. Happy was nothing too expensive.

[DarthBagel]

Just read the bad reviews, but anyways amazon reviews are pretty crap so I just find some with pictures since they put in a little extra effort.

[myname]

The problem are also the reviews being negative.
I saw two of the same exact reviews from a non verified purchase on two types of dehydrators that stated the product broke within 45 days.
Check out the profiles and a lot of real users and reviewers dont use their real names.

[ThaChazo]

Also check the date they were posted. A lot of times the review of the product was written prior to critical software updates.

[frshSwag]

Have they stopped allowing reviews for products that haven't even been released yet? Hate it when something comes out and it's been spammed with 5 star reviews from people that are just looking forward to it

And can we get rid of joke reviews? Amazon review (for a Pedometer):
"I took this chunk of crap to both CPAC and a local Chuck E Cheese and did not detect a single Pedophile. 1 star"

[sahbibg]

Here’s a grandma trick always read 2 and 3 star reviews they are genuine

[jonjonboi]

Would you recommond buying amazon products that have no reviews?

[KelvinSamuelZA]

Could you show us an example of a fake review?

[Latitube]

Just look at negative review. No product is perfect and how every people feel about a product are different. Thus I only read the negative review which normally comes with particular details about what they complain about, to see if it's something that i would bother. And I don't think any company going to fake a negative review

[MiguelRPD]

Protip: if you do get a highly rated product like headphones. And they break. You can ask them at vendor for another headphones and they'll give it to you if you rate 5 stars.

[nonshatter]

This is quite useful. I've often wondered about this.

[LiteGaming]

Amazon Support can overwrite return policies btw

[dagg]

Yes, now I know.
I will take everything CNET says with a grain of salt, GOT YA!

[klouie]

I think the bottom line doesn't trust any comment too much. If you tried it and didnt like it, just return it.

[IcemanJTC]

Who the hell ho trough all this shit to buy something, if I like the look of it or I need it, I’ll buy it, if it doesn’t work or I don’t like it, I’ll return it.

[danmar]

Amazon reviews are 100% useless. I automatically ignore those by "Amazon customer", 5-star and 1 star ratings. Amazon reviews are great to see how dumb your fellow neighbours really are. Example: 5-star rating followed by the comment: It's okay. And I don't take the "verified purchase" seriously because it's not a gauge of intelligence. Unless there are hundreds of ratings I only check the price.