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Rawpixel/Getty Images In response to this issue, many platforms have developed automated tools to identify and remove reviews that are obviously fake. For example, Yelp uses a proprietary algorithm that filters out about 16% of their reviews. But as sellers become more sophisticated in how they craft these fake reviews, it's become harder and harder for platforms to root them out. To better understand the scope of the problem - and what companies can do to address it - we conducted a 10-month study exploring how fake reviews are generated, and how they impact sellers, buyers, and platforms. We worked with a team of UCLA undergraduates to infiltrate these markets, observe them, and collect data on the products for which sellers were soliciting reviews. In parallel, we gathered data for these products from Amazon, including their ratings and reviews, sales ranks, prices, and advertising strategies. Since we were able to observe exactly when sellers started and stopped soliciting fake reviews, and compare that activity to their products' sales data, this enabled us to measure the effectiveness of these reviews as far as increasing both short- and long-term sales outcomes. Second, fake reviews appear to be most common for a certain type of product. These products tend to be priced similarly to their competitors, generally in the $15-$40 price range, and they typically already have high ratings, with an average rating of 4.4 and an average of 183 reviews (suggesting that many of these pre-existing reviews may also have been fake). Finally, these products are generally not name brands, and the vast majority of sellers are located in or around Shenzhen, China. While we can't be certain of the reason for this trend, recent changes in Amazon's policies meant to encourage more global sellers have resulted in a significant increase in Chinese manufacturers selling directly on the platform (rather than supplying American companies). These new sellers often have tight margins and little reputation to preserve, creating a whole host of quality control issues. This all suggests that fake reviews are a more common than you might think - but are they an effective sales strategy? As far as short-term impact, the data is clear: Fake reviews are extremely effective. In the two weeks after sellers began to recruit reviewers, their products' ratings increased by an average 0.16 stars, and the average number of reviews these products received per week doubled from five up to an average of 10 reviews per week. While some of these reviews might be organic, i.e., from real, non-compensated customers, the fact that the jump in reviews happens immediately after sellers start buying fake reviews suggests that this spike is driven by the fake reviews. This increase in reviews translated into a significant boost in sales, with these products experiencing an average 12.5% bump in their sales ranks. Clearly, these fake reviews are causing real problems for buyers. But it's not just consumers who suffer when sellers use fake reviews. As fake reviews corrode consumer trust in the review system, the platform itself takes a hit as well. So what are platforms like Amazon doing to combat this issue? In 2019 alone, Amazon spent more than $500 million and employed more than 8,000 people to reduce fraud and abuse on its platform. And in our study, we found that Amazon was in fact deleting around 40% of these fake reviews - but it took them an average of more than 100 days after a fake review was posted to remove it. That's more than enough time for sellers to enjoy the short-term sales boost, and for enough consumers to be misled to generate a large increase in angry one-star reviews. And this limited impact isn't surprising. After all, despite Amazon's efforts to combat fake reviews, sellers are clearly still finding them effective enough to be worth buying. As sellers become more sophisticated in how they create fake reviews, online marketplaces like Amazon are finding themselves in a never-ending arms race to develop effective ways to identify and remove them - and retain consumer trust. While there's no clear answer, our research does suggest one potential solution: to do what we did. E-commerce platforms should consider partnering with social media platforms such as Facebook to better understand how sellers are recruiting fake reviewers, and potentially use that visibility to speed up the process of identifying and removing fake reviews. Finding ways to crack down on this activity would be a win-win-win, as it would reduce illicit activity on social media platforms, increase trust in e-commerce platforms, and enable a more positive, reliable experience for consumers. faux saint laurent bag