How to Spot Fake Product Reviews on an Online Site or Portal?

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E-commerce has become one of the most reliable sources of getting everything you want. Several brands are selling the same or various products in the various price ranges. It is often problematic for customers to guess which one is genuine and which is not. When a customer searches for the desired product on any online site, it shows them the same thing starting from the cheapest range to highest. Every consumer needs to know how to spot fake reviews.

In such cases, what people usually do is to check the reviews section to make the other decision whether they want to buy it or not. But it is not the right way to decide because there are tons of fake product reviews online. Most of the comments visible in the portal might be the fake reviews from competitors or those paid people who did a fake product review to engage people into buying it. That means it’s very important to identify fake reviews when you want to shop online for products like fashion because there are going to be more demand and thus more fake reviews.

A study on how to spot fake reviews on some e-commerce shopping sites proved that humans are bad at guessing genuine products. Researchers took a few people to guess which reviews are fake and which are not. It resulted in them guessing wrong seventy per cent times. Customers can keep themselves aware of scams that are the product reviews fake or not on more comfortably if they play a few mind games.

Spot fake product reviews with observation

When buying something from an online site, consumers need to be aware of fake product reviews and engage themselves in fake product review monitoring. They can spot fake reviews with some necessary observations.

•  Unspecified product names

In case customers are unaware of the fake review writing business, yes people have started a business where they take charges for writing fake reviews on products. It is often easy to spot them as this kind of review never includes any specific product name. These are generic reviews that can work for any product. For example, someone writing this product is impressive. The profile who wrote the review did not mention any product name, and it is a comment that anyone can use for any product. Positive reviews are good, but if it seems overly optimistic, then something is wrong.

• Long reviews

When a customer uses any product for real and then writes a review about it, they always mention when and how to use it, how it worked through the time being and if there are any wrong sides of it or caution etc. Specifications about the result of changes, there will be storytelling elements which are not common in fake reviews. In fake reviews, the only common thing is generic words with no specifications. If the question is the product reviews fake? Hitting you hard then focus on a fake product review monitoring system.

• Grammatical Mistakes

One of the most common things in fake product reviews is the grammatical mistakes in the review. Writers of fake reviews on products include several types. Another thing is that they use broken words and not proper English. In fake reviews use of verbs is often more in sentences. On the other hand, real people use more nouns in their reviews instead of verbs. Low use of English grammar and repeated words are a reflection of how fake it is. A product with no legitimate reviews can never be a genuine one. It will help if customers leave such products alone.

• Verification 

Verified account and review both are the legitimacy of any genuine product. Online e-commerce sites put on a verified sign beside real profiles and real comments. For example, if I do online shopping for electronics from a site and then write a review of it on the same site, it will show my profile as a verified customer and the review as a verified review. Also, there is an open option for other customers to take help from the review section. They also get an option to mark any review as useful, which makes it more accessible for people to find if it is genuine or not.

Use of words

When a genuine buyer writes a review, they don’t use I or me many times in their comment. In fake reviews they may have used I or me for not one or two but for many times repeatedly. Their reviews are mostly like general comments on something. Scammers try to make it look like a personal experience. But there includes no specifications, no details, nothing that can be helpful to others or something that specifies any good or bad sides of it.

Number of Reviews with Time

We all know about influencers or experts or bloggers who use products and write long reviews on them as a part of their profession. Since they get paid for writing genuine reviews that can help people and also promote the product, it will help customers if they trust those reviews. If you check their profiles, you will find hundreds of reviews and general information for a long time. Sometimes you might find a badge of top contributors written beside a profile because it is a genuine person and you can rely on them. However post tons of reviews in just one or two days, it is proof that neither the profile nor the reviews are legitimate. It should be enough for someone to be aware of the scam.

• Average Reviews

If you find tons of reviews for any product, it will help to scroll through it and concentrate on the reviews with an average rating. Five-star reviews can be fake and so can be the one-star ratings, it will be a better option to check on the middle way reviews with three or four stars. If anything makes you doubtful about the review, directly ask questions to the reviewer and wait for them to reply.

• Spotting fake reviews with the help of computer

The Cornell survey reported that computerized programs spot fake reviews ninety-nine times better than humans. There are several tools and techniques which makes it more comfortable for people to spot fake reviews on online shopping sites. Consumers can install applications for fake review monitoring.

Conclusion

Consumers buy products for primary purposes and nobody wants to waste their money on fake products. It is the consumer’s right to buy anything of good quality. It becomes more comfortable for customers to be aware of scams when they observe everything as much as possible.