How to Remove A Fake Review on Amazon
Waves of fake negative reviews on Amazon have been crashing down over sellers lately and costing them their nerves as well as their customers – both equally important criteria when selling professionally online. Apart from this, sellers have also to cope with real but unfair negative reviews. Especially in a time where information is just two clicks or a voice command away, it is all the more important to take into account what people are saying about your online business and its products. In this article, we’ll talk about how to identify and how to remove inappropriate reviews on Amazon as a seller.
Importance and Potential Problems of Customer Reviews on Amazon
I personally enjoy reading and writing reviews. I write and read them for places I visit, things I buy and services I use. In fact, the little Japanese restaurant on my street printed out my Google review and put it up on their blackboard. This little act just proves how relevant online reviews have become for SMEs – online or offline.
Let’s be honest, would you expect a buyer on Amazon to risk spending her/his hard-earned money on a 2-star-product? You wouldn’t. But no matter how good your products are, negative reviews are inevitable, simply because no product is perfect for everyone. Sometimes, however, customers submit unfair or inappropriate reviews which actually don’t represent the product’s properties but may affect the overall product ranking. In an extreme case, reviews can be intended to mislead buyers.
When it comes to such fake reviews on Amazon, you either have those that tend to exaggerate a product’s usefulness and quality, or you have negative fake reviews, trying to discourage customers from buying a certain Amazon product or doing business with specific sellers.
We have been chatting with merchants and e-commerce experts regarding this topic and how they handle the situation. Let’s take a look at what she found out right after my little rant on why I really dislike people that write fake or unfair negative reviews on Amazon.
How to Identify Inappropriate Product Reviews on Amazon
Does Amazon delete negative or positive reviews in general? Yes – in case they don’t meet Amazon’s guidelines and are therefore considered inappropriate. But before we focus on how to remove such reviews from Amazon, we should take a look at how to find them first. Amazon’s community policy already gives some hints to what kind of reviews are likely to be deleted, for example:
For example, the following review describes packaging and not the product itself, which is against Amazon’s policy.
Spotting fake reviews can be somewhat more tricky because it requires you to keep your mind on several factors at the same time. There are a few telltale signs that make a false review on Amazon stand out from the rest.
Language and Length
In my experience, there are three types of reviewers. Those that had an amazing experience and want to share it, those whose experience was so abominably miserable that they felt the urge to warn others, and those who just want to communicate that “everything went as expected.”
The latter group will normally write one-liners without any specific details, normally just informing other shoppers that it’s “safe” to order from this specific account and that it’s not a scam of some sorts. However, once you see reviews of the first two groups that are only a few words long, you’ll be better off taking a closer look as they might be fake reviews:
On Amazon, once someone is highly satisfied or unsatisfied with a product, they will tend to leave you a reason why they feel that way and go into detail, leaving either a glowing or an extremely bad review.
Amount and Recency
If the reviews for an Amazon product are all quite recent and the amount of reviews is rather small, don’t hesitate to check the reviewer’s profile for authenticity.
The same goes for sellers when checking for fake reviews on Amazon. If you notice that someone, firstly, wrote an enormous amount of reviews, secondly, did so in a short period of time and, lastly, all of these reviews address the direct competition, chances are that there is some dirty play at hand.
Review Ratio and Product Popularity
The review ratio of 5-star ratings in comparison to 1-star-ratings is always a good starting indicator for weeding out which Amazon reviews are fake. If a product has 70% 5-star-feedback in comparison to 30% 1-star-feedback, you might be looking at fake reviews.
Same thing goes for products that have a 100% 5-star rating, but only 11 reviews, as shown in the following example. In this case, I would rather go with a product that has a 4.6-star rating, but hundreds of reviews.
Here’s another scenario: If an Amazon product has been on the marketplace for only two months and has already gathered a thousand reviews, chances are that these reviews were bought.
This goes for customers and merchants alike: When you’re looking for fake reviews on Amazon, keep in mind that it always makes sense to compare the review ratios to other similar products on the market.
Tips on How to Remove Inappropriate Reviews on Amazon
The reality is that reviews are one of the most valuable factors in online shopping, that’s why Amazon is very careful with removing them. Yet, in cases with strong evidence, it is worth reporting them and thereby help eliminate any misleading information. Finding inappropriate positive or negative reviews on Amazon requires no in-depth analysis and no real knowledge about the products themselves. However, reporting the malignant shoppers and reviewers is, unfortunately, a little more difficult. In the following, we’ll take a look at some options of how to report unfair or fake reviews on Amazon.
The “Report abuse” Button
When looking at reviews, you have the option at the bottom to either communicate that this review was “Helpful” or that you want to “Report abuse.”
How to Report Fake Reviews on Amazon
Finding fake reviews on Amazon requires no in-depth analysis and no real knowledge about the products themselves. However, reporting the malignant shoppers and reviewers is, unfortunately, a little more difficult.
The “Report abuse” Button
When looking at reviews, you have the option at the bottom to either communicate that this review was “Helpful” or that you want to “Report abuse.”
Amazon has removed the feature where you can write why you found this review inappropriate. However, you can always write an email to [email protected] if you want to voice your concern a little clearer. Mention all relevant information (your product’s ASIN, the date and time of the review as well as the name or nickname of the reviewer) and explain why exactly the review in question doesn’t comply with Amazon’s policy.
Build a Case to Go with Your Email
When you’re defending yourself against fake negative reviews on Amazon as a seller, we strongly suggest that you write an email instead of simply reporting the abuse. Of course, you’ll need to build a stronger case if you want it to be successful. Here’s how you do it:
1. Ask Amazon Seller Support
Yes, we are aware that taking this problem to Amazon Seller Support will mean that the process may take a long time and the results – if there are any at all – will not necessarily be the ones you were hoping for. However, when handling fake reviews on Amazon, this is also the solution that will be suggested to you if you try to escalate the situation immediately. In that case, it can be handy to show the “higher-ups” your case ID and prove that you already followed regular protocol, reaping no rewards.
2. Report to PRA (Product Review Abuse)
If the first part fails because, for example, the Seller Support team has refused to remove those reviews from Amazon, write an email to [email protected]. Be sure to be as descriptive and precise as possible. Emphasize that regular protocol and Seller Support were not able to help you, in what way the reviews violate pertinent guidelines, and also in what way the fake reviews on Amazon are currently hurting your business.
When you receive an answer, don’t be fooled by how short it is (“Thanks, we will look into it”). It may sound like they are brushing you off, but seller experience has proven that – in most cases – the review in question is then removed by Amazon. Have a little trust in the Amazon framework at this point. As we already mentioned, they have a big interest in keeping the review environment as honest as possible too.
How Not to Deal with Unfair or Fake Negative Reviews on Amazon
Many non-FBA sellers have been known to request buyers to remove their reviews from Amazon upon resolving the problem or even offer them incentives of sorts to remove/alter their review.
Do not do this.
Even though it may improve your product rating, it is still against Amazon’s customer review policy, which clearly states that a seller cannot ask a “reviewer to change or remove their review.”
To Keep In Mind: Not All Negative Reviews on Amazon Are Harmful
At a first glance, you may connect bad reviews on Amazon with negative consequences for your business. Yet, don’t feel tempted to get rid of all negative feedback but try to learn from it instead. Especially detailed reviews may serve as a golden source of information. For instance, some reviews may indicate that the product’s description is not precise enough and, therefore, should be optimized. Using high-quality 360-degree photos could also help to prevent or at least minimize unfulfilled customers’ expectations. In some cases, however, reviews provide evidence of insufficient product quality – a sign for the seller to take steps to improve it.
What is the best way to react to a negative, but fair review from Amazon customers? First of all, respond to the comment and be as polite as possible. Start with an apology and thank the reviewer for sharing his or her honest opinion. Furthermore, use the opportunity to share your view about the issue and to give additional information that might be helpful for other buyers. Of course, the best would be to offer a solution to the described problem, if possible. This may even increase chances that the customer decides to remove the negative review from Amazon without any request.
Why Fake Amazon Reviews Benefit Nobody and Should Always Be Reported
Dealing with product reviews is a vital part of selling on Amazon. For sure, too many fake reviews on Amazon will cost you the trust of your customers, revenue, and a whole lot of nerves. However, you’re not the only one losing credibility and quality through fake reviews – Amazon themselves don’t want their image tarnished and rely on fair marketplace players to help them identify fraudulent sellers.
A positive side-effect of continuously reporting fake reviews is that it indirectly shines a positive light on your own company in regard to honesty, because surely you wouldn’t be calling out companies employing black-hat tactics if you yourself were doing so. Hence, it is important for all sellers to understand how to spot and remove fake reviews on Amazon.
Let’s also not forget that fake reviews for products on Amazon also harm the target group that reviews are actually meant for: the Amazon shoppers. The misleading info in these reviews will possibly drive the customers to the wrong kind of sellers. It will much rather drive them to those who are not afraid of getting their hands dirty – but not in a good way.
Next question: if they are willing to gain traffic through unsolicited marketing techniques, where else are they willing to cut corners? In any case, this is not what a good buyer experience looks like and certainly not what the sellers on Amazon want on their platform.
How to Remove Inappropriate Product Reviews on Amazon – Final Thoughts
Reviews are not only an effective way to market your product and yourself, they are the fastlane to winning the trust of potential customers. This is why it is all the more important to make sure that inappropriate reviews on Amazon are directly taken care of.
As a seller, the most important thing to do is to identify such reviews and, depending on the situation, to report abuse or to build a strong case with Seller Support, and if that doesn’t help, escalate the situation to the next level – using the Case ID that you received. Even though it can be really challenging for you to convince Amazon to remove product reviews, stay within Amazon protocol at all times and never try to circumvent this protocol by reaching out to the reviewers directly.
Fake reviews are what allow second-rate products and sellers to rank higher in the search results. On the contrary, real but unfair negative reviews on Amazon are usually free from any specific intention. They may, however, have a negative impact on the product ranking and mislead the customers as well. Since nobody, the online giant in the least, has any interest in this, we believe that this issue will be addressed more closely by Amazon in the future. Especially if you take into account how much media coverage this topic has received so far.
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