Bob Phibbs

Getting the Ratings You Pay For

January 27, 2012

FROM RETAILWIRE:
Deceptive reviews on e-tail sites are not a new problem. A New York Times article that says a seller of cases for tablet devices, VIP Deals, offered to rebate Amazon consumers $2 a star for reviews. Do you see any danger that reviews may soon be seen as worthless by consumers as a result of such cases?      [more...]

The bigger issue is that customers are preferring reviews from people they don't know over people they do, as Paul Schottmiller from Cisco and I discussed in this video shot at last week's NRF.

There's a reason these paid reviews are growing because online retailers know that they provide the illusion of honesty and critical skills -- particularly the Boomers.