Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Amazon's Choice Products Aren't Always What They Claim to Be

posted by chromas on Wednesday December 25 2019, @08:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the ✓ dept.

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow1337:

Amazon's Choice Products Aren't Always What They Claim to Be:

The Amazon's Choice badges customers turn to for endorsed or recommended products were found sometimes to be fake or even unsafe.

An investigation published by the Wall Street Journal reveals that the Amazon's Choice badge can be attached to products that make false claims, have safety concerns, or are even manipulated by the sellers. The investigation said that while there are legitimate listings with a badge, customers should double-check what is "endorsed" by the tech giant.

The Journal identified that the badge is more likely to appear on Amazon's AmazonBasics products and that sellers were able to manipulate the endorsement by promoting specific keywords in the products' description or contained other brand names.

Examples of fake or illegitimate Amazon's Choice products named in the investigation include cellphone chargers that claim they are made by Apple but are a completely different brand, as well as a fat burner supplement, which makes claims that are against Amazon's policies.

Amazon's Choice badges were created in 2015 to coincide with the Amazon Alexa, so people could say, "Alexa, buy a cell phone charger," and Alexa would add the top Amazon's choice result to the shopping cart.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Amazon's Choice Products Aren't Always What They Claim to Be | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 7 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)

  • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday December 25 2019, @09:27PM

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Wednesday December 25 2019, @09:27PM (#936111) Journal
    Choice is like beef - not the best.
    --
    SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 25 2019, @09:50PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 25 2019, @09:50PM (#936116)

    I haven't knowingly bought anything from Amazon since they strong-armed my publisher--back in the days when Amazon only sold books. I will admit to buying things on eBay that were subsequently fulfilled by Amazon (but I didn't know it at the time of purchase).

    Try a price comparison sometime before blindly assuming Amazon has your back. It's usually easy to find any particular item at a lower price from another seller.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by WizardFusion on Wednesday December 25 2019, @11:28PM

      by WizardFusion (498) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 25 2019, @11:28PM (#936141) Journal

      The problem is that Amazon has the market on convenience.

      If I wanted to by a new pair of headphones, I will look on the amazon site for all the possible types from all the different manufacturers. It's so much easier and quicker.
      Once I have found a pair that I like, then I shop around but sometimes its just convenient to buy them there.

      I don't like it either.

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 25 2019, @10:03PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 25 2019, @10:03PM (#936117)

    Hah, like you have free will.

  • (Score: 2) by DavePolaschek on Thursday December 26 2019, @01:50PM

    by DavePolaschek (6129) on Thursday December 26 2019, @01:50PM (#936237) Homepage Journal

    Giant Corporation may not have my best interests at heart?! Unpossible!

(1)