How to Overcome Fake Review Problem? - Live From Etail West - Episode 129

INTERVIEW WITH ROB GROSS

 

DESCRIPTION

We're coming to you live today, from the e-Tail West Conference, in Palm Springs. We're very happy to have Rob Gross, the co-founder, and COO at Fakespot, joining us on the show. Rob is in the business of making things more transparent for online customers.

Currently, the number of counterfeit products and fake reviews appear to be at their peak, and this has become very challenging for online platforms. In today's episode, Rob discusses the trends he is seeing, and he shares some simple solutions for the multi-faceted problem of bogus reviews.

Fakespot was started in 2016 and its mission is to bring trust and transparency back to the internet. Fakespot helps users to stay informed by detecting fake reviews and counterfeit products before they have committed to a purchase. Fakespot has analyzed over four-and-a-half-billion reviews, which makes them the most trusted platform for the detection of fraudulent product reviews on the internet.

Be sure to tune in today, to find out what Rob has to share about overcoming the problem of fake reviews.

“Amazon and Walmart have caused their own problems by allowing all these third-party sellers in, and not taking care of and maintaining their review platform.”
— Rob Gross

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • The fake review problem has worsened. Rob explains why this is so.

  • How Amazon and Walmart have caused problems for themselves.

  • Amazon is unique in e-commerce in that they have their own review management system.

  • Rob discusses the multi-faceted problem of fake reviews.

  • Problems with review "farms", and Black Hat marketing "farms".

  • There are some simple solutions to the problem of fake reviews.

  • Rob talks about the five-star rating system for products, and he explains where and when it originated.

  • Rob explains why moving to a ratings-based system is bad for both consumers and e-commerce in general.

  • The difference between trusted reviews and those that are not to be trusted.

  • What Walmart did to get its platform up and running, and an issue it is experiencing as a result.

  • Amazon originally did their reviews to get their ranking up on SEO.

  • Rob foresees a change coming as a result of a change in legislation.

  • The power of Fakespot's network.

  • What to look out for that could indicate a fake review and the way that Fakespot finds bogus reviews.

  • Authenticity is where it's at for millennials.

  • Negative reviews also have value.

  • Rob talks about how Fakespot was started, and about the awesome free service that it offers consumers.

  • What Sentinel is all about, what makes it unique, how it is organized, and how it's pricing structure works.

  • Rob recommends using Mantra for brand protection.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

  • Win a copy of Kiri's book, Amazon for CMOs! All you need to do is write a review of this podcast in iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to this podcast, take a screenshot of the review that you wrote, and email it to Kiri at kiri@bobsledmarketing.com or send it to her on LinkedIn.

Season 3Kiri MastersComment