5-star reviews

To view a version of this email in a browser, [click here](. INC. THIS MORNING 5-star reviews Good morning, Amazon has a big advantage in its retail business: Many years ago, it started convincing millions of customers to write product reviews. It's a brilliant system: - More reviews equals more traffic. - More traffic equals more sales. - More sales equals more reviews. I'll bet you've even used Amazon's product reviews while buying from another retailer. I did this just the other day, standing in an aisle at Target, looking up products on Amazon, and then making my choice. There's one big asterisk next to all of this, however: the question of how many reviews on sites like Amazon and elsewhere are actually fakes, posted by unscrupulous vendors in order to boost their own ratings or else drag down the competition. On Friday, a former Amazon employee named Chris McCabe, who now runs a consulting firm for Amazon retailers, told the Wall Street Journal that he thinks [about 30 percent of reviews]( on the site are "inauthentic." Amazon puts the number much lower, around 1 percent. The company told the Journal that it spent $400 million last year to combat fake reviews and misconduct, and took action against more than five million reviewers. McCabe’s statement echoes an April investigation from The Hustle, in which a reporter [spent two weeks]( "in the underbelly of Amazon's fake review economy," and found that "the fake Amazon review economy is a thriving market, ripe with underground forums, 'How To Game The Rankings!' tutorials, and websites..." If you own a business that uses Amazon or other smaller retailers with reviews as a sales channel -- or if you wind up with reviews on other sites like Yelp, Google or TripAdvisor -- this isn't just a curiosity. It can be the difference between success and failure. In 2017, a British man who'd made a living writing five-star reviews on TripAdvisor [decided to run an experiment](. He created a fake listing for a restaurant that didn't exist on the site, and used the dark arts of fake-review-generating to boost its reputation. Eventually, it became the top-rated restaurant in all of London. People called for reservations and were disappointed when they couldn't get in. TripAdvisor shut him down. In another case, TripAdvisor cooperated with Italian prosecutors to shut down a fake-review scheme and [send a man to prison](. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission settled with the first company it’s ever [prosecuted for fake Amazon reviews]( earlier this year: a $50,000 fine. I think enforcement will only get tough when consumers perceive this as a big enough deal to threaten the whole system, and the multibillion-dollar value of the networks that companies like Amazon have built. TripAdvisor has a roughly $5.3 billion market capitalization as I write this. Yelp comes in at about $2.5 billion. Until then: Buyer (and rater) beware. SPONSORED CONTENT [34 HERITAGE Has the Perfect Pant For the Modern Man!]( 34 Heritage is the Quintessential Denim Brand for the Modern Gentleman. Its pants are crafted from the richest, premium fabrics and exceptional handcrafted details, and offer great recovery, stretch and comfort, with impeccable style. [Use code INC15 for 15 percent off your first order.]( HERE'S WHAT ELSE I'M READING TODAY: Martin Scorsese on the most expensive and ambitious experiment of his career, [and why he took it to Netflix](. --Inc. [The latest sign of the retail apocalypse]( Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy on Sunday. --The Wall Street Journal Need some fake eyelashes along with your light bulbs? This San Francisco store has been [stocking it all for 83 years](. --Inc. [Elon Musk on his Starship spacecraft]( “This is going to sound totally nuts, but I think we want to try to reach orbit in less than six months.” --The Verge Starting up in Washington D.C.: Where [Amazon, cupcakes, and (haunted) business incubators]( collide. --Inc. An investigation into rampant online photos of child sexual abuse reveals bad guys who are [more tech-savvy than investigators](. --The New York Times A gym injury led this entrepreneur to [cancel his company's health insurance](. His new DIY plan is half the cost, but it's not for the meek. --Inc. [Doordash says it had a data breach]( affecting 4.9 million people. --CNN --Bill Murphy Jr. Contributing Editor, Inc.com Story ideas and feedback actively solicited. Find me at [billmurphyjr@inc.com](mailto:billmurphyjr@inc.com?subject=), or on [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Click here]( to forward to a friend. This email was sent by: Mansueto Ventures 7 World Trade Center, 29th Floor New York, NY, 10007, [Unsubscribe]( • [Update Profile]( • [View in Browser]( • [Forward to a Friend](