Amazon bans incentivized reviews outside of its own Vine program

[brassmonkey]

Manufacturers will no longer be permitted to provide products independently in exchange for reviews.

it is invite only

Amazon has taken several steps over the past year to crack down on fake paid reviews on its marketplace. The company has sued over 1,000 individuals and websites and buyers accused of dealing in fake reviews. Now, Amazon says, incentivized reviews will only be available through the Amazon Vine program.

Until this week's change, incentivized reviews from users who received a free or discounted products have been allowed, as long as the incentive was disclosed in the review. Amazon says these review-for-product reviews "make up only a tiny fraction of the tens of millions of reviews on Amazon, and when done carefully, they can be helpful to customers by providing a foundation of reviews for new or less well-known products."

Amazon launched Vine in 2007 to provide publishers and manufacturers access to a panel of independent reviewers for their products. The reviewers, called Vine Voices, are selected by Amazon based on the reviews they've submitted in the past. The company sends products to the individuals, and manufacturers have no contact with the reviewers. The paid service is particularly tailored to generating reviews for newer products that haven't sold enough products to gain reviews organically.

The change will not affect books at this time. Authors and publishers will continue to be allowed to send advance review copies of books.

Amazon is also hinting that updates to Vine will be coming to make it "an even more useful program going forward."

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[INever]

I have not used Amazon for over 2 years, since they dinged my card a 2nd time for the same purchase. Even after calling, they did it one more time. So 3 charges for one purchase.

.... they can go f themselves.

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by INever

I have not used Amazon for over 2 years, since they dinged my card a 2nd time for the same purchase. Even after calling, they did it one more time. So 3 charges for one purchase.

.... they can go f themselves.

that has nothing to do with these reviews. you can get stuff free or almost 90% off. I have prime so the shipping is always free. waiting for my vine invite!

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

that has nothing to do with these reviews. you can get stuff free or almost 90% off. I have prime so the shipping is always free. waiting for my vine invite!

check is in the mail.. oh wait the 1st of the month has already passed..

I order from amazon almost monthly and I've only had one or two issues in over a decade. It was always handled other than the time I ordered a projector bulb that said it was a factory bulb but turned out to be OEM. (not nearly as bright as factory bulbs)

[Rochard]

We buy a lot of stuff from Amazon, and never have had problems.

I've also done a few "incentivized" purchases - where I agree in advance to write a review for a large discount. For example, I have a Microsoft Surface 4 Pro and I am in a number of Facebook groups about the MS Surface. I bought a new case from one of my favorite companies (sfbags.com) and posted it to a few groups with photos, and then people starting hitting me up on Facebook. They offer to sell me their product at discount if I agree to write a review with pictures. Then they set up a special sale, give me the link, and then (I guess) quickly close the sale so no one else gets it. You purchased the item so you are a verified buyer, so it looks good when your review goes up.

I've gotten all kinds of stuff like this including monitors, keyboards, and even a laptop.

This is why you see so many reviews with pictures that ramble on about everything under the sun. They want so many words per review so people tend to ramble.