E-commerce sites are riddled with fake reviews with no regulatory solution in sight

An increase of just one star in a rating on Amazon correlates with a 26 percent increase in sales In the world of e-commerce, the online review is king, the internet’s answer to walking into a store and trying out a product for yourself. “How can you tell if I’m just someone who’s being paid to write a review versus a genuine review?” The state of the system was highlighted last month in a proposed settlement between Sunday Riley Skincare, a popular seller of items like $55 night oils and $85 brightening serums, and the Federal Trade Commission, which found that the company had posted fake reviews of its products on Sephora’s website for years. The retailer said in an email to The New York Times that it did “not believe the actions at Sunday Riley are representative of our brands or the countless hours our clients have spent sharing their authentic product experiences with us.” The company said it vetted and had removed certain Sunday Riley reviews from its website, particularly if reviews were left the same day the account was created. The commission received roughly 40 comments about the agreement from frustrated consumers, one of whom said it was a “finger wag.” “It was the most blatant case of fake reviews, and this is how the government responds to it,” said Saoud Khalifah, chief executive of Fakespot, a company that analyses the authenticity of reviews on sites like Amazon, Sephora and Best Buy. “The incentives are incredibly high for brands to create fake reviews or incentivise reviews,” said John LeBaron, Pattern’s chief revenue officer.