F.T.C. $12.8 Million Settlement for Fake Reviews by Amazon Seller

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F.T.C. $12.8 Million Settlement for Fake Reviews by Amazon Seller

engine

5:20 pm on Feb 27, 2019 (gmt 0)

The Federal Trade Commission has settled a complaint where an Amazon seller was paying for fabricated five star reviews on the site.

the order imposes a judgment of $12.8 million, which will be suspended upon payment of $50,000 to the Commission and the payment of certain unpaid income tax obligations. If the defendants are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition to the FTC, the full amount of the judgment will immediately become due.

[ftc.gov...]

tangor

8:27 pm on Feb 27, 2019 (gmt 0)

Those who got this wrist slap best find that $50k!

heisje

3:42 pm on Mar 1, 2019 (gmt 0)

Going after the small fish. What about the Elephants in the room, FTC? Such a charade . . . .
.

engine

4:14 pm on Mar 1, 2019 (gmt 0)

Going after the small fish. What about the Elephants in the room, FTC? Such a charade . . .

Note, this is the first, and i'm sure there are more to follow.
Additionally, those charged with a complaint have to be within the remit of the F.T.C., and if 'overseas', are likely to be out of reach.

heisje

4:47 pm on Mar 1, 2019 (gmt 0)

Expect Google, Amazon, Facebook, et al. are still "within the remit of the F.T.C."?
.

Rndm

5:02 pm on Mar 1, 2019 (gmt 0)

If Amazon never has to care and Google never has to care. Guess what? Nobody that matters will ever care.

glakes

11:45 pm on Mar 1, 2019 (gmt 0)

If Amazon never has to care and Google never has to care. Guess what? Nobody that matters will ever care.

As a seller on Amazon, most of the fake reviews and review services I've seen are from China which is well beyond the reach of the FTC. In ecommerce, product reviews play a very strong role in a buyer's purchasing decision and as such the FTC should compel marketplaces to thoroughly vet each review. Since the FTC won't hold Amazon accountable for the information disseminated in Amazon's own marketplace, the FTC appears content to go after low hanging domestic fruit while offshore sellers enjoy immunity along with Amazon. Since it is estimated that over half the sellers on Amazon(.com) are from China, the FTC should instead be focusing their efforts on Amazon and other marketplaces that are within the jurisdiction of USA laws and regulations.

tangor

12:03 am on Mar 2, 2019 (gmt 0)

^^^ Not likely with all the g and a folks currently holding gov jobs ... or their lobby friends. But one can hope!

Not really a "webmaster" issue, other than we have to endure it.

glakes

12:32 am on Mar 2, 2019 (gmt 0)

Not likely with all the g and a folks currently holding gov jobs ... or their lobby friends. But one can hope!

Very true. Unfortunately Amazon and Google are in a protected class of businesses. It's Amazon's website and Amazon collects the money from shoppers yet they have no responsibility to ensure the product information and reviews posted are accurate/genuine? Something seems really wrong with this...

tangor

12:39 am on Mar 2, 2019 (gmt 0)

Follow the money!

IanTurner

8:16 am on Mar 3, 2019 (gmt 0)

This is the sort of thing the EU would take up - they don't like the market share held by Amazon, Google and Facebook and have started to make them pay (occasionally)

JS_Harris

8:35 pm on Mar 3, 2019 (gmt 0)

Going after the small fish. What about the Elephants in the room, FTC? Such a charade . . . .

Indeed, it looks like they think they were targeted for political reasons too.