Amazon Is Filled with Fake Reviews虚假评论充斥亚马逊

米歇尔·德贝泽克　陈小侠

Looking at the ratings on Amazon products can help consumers make more informed decisions about what they add to their shopping carts. But shopping smart isn’t always as easy as selecting items with a four- or five-star rating： Factors like the length， quality， and number of reviews also make a difference. And with so many fraudulent third-party sellers working through the site， it’s not always clear which reviews are trustworthy. For people who feel lost every time they browse Amazon， Lifehacker1 recently shared its tips for spotting fake reviews.

This may sound obvious， but to get a feel for2 what you’re purchasing， it helps to actually read the reviews. If every review gives the same bland praise for the product without mentioning anything negative， think twice before heading to the checkout page. Some retailers pay people to leave fraudulent five-star reviews on their products in order to boost their ratings and game Amazon’s algorithm. Reviews that are no longer than a few words are another sign of such scams.

Looking for “verified purchases” badges on reviews can help you weed out3 the fakes， but it’s no guarantee that a review’s authentic： Fake customers sometimes receive the products they’ve been paid to rate. The best way to determine if the review you’re reading is real is to look for personal details and imperfections in the story. Sometimes a three- or four-star review is a better indication of what you’re getting than a too-good-to-be-true five-star review.

If all this seems overwhelming， you can also use artificial intelligence to help parse Amazon reviews. The website Fakespot4 can analyze all the reviews on a particular Amazon listing in just a few seconds， looking for those factors typically associated with deception， like similar wording. It then tells you how many of the available reviews are likely to be authentic.

And if you’re really committed to making the best purchase you can， you can always take your research off Amazon. A product that has a similar ratings on a less popular retail site to what it has on Amazon has likely been reviewed honestly. And if you suspect fraud， you can let Amazon know by clicking “report abuse” next to the review.

查看亞马逊卖品的评价星级能帮助消费者更明智地选择要放到购物车的商品。但是明智购物可不总像挑选四星或五星商品那般容易：评论的长度、质量和数量等因素也会影响购物决定。网站上有很多作假的第三方卖家，消费者并非总是清楚哪些评论值得信赖。对于那些每次浏览亚马逊时都感到茫然的消费者，生活骇客最近分享了如何甄别虚假评论的小窍门。

这可能听起来并不必要，但为了了解要买的东西，生活骇客能帮你看到真实的商品评价。如果某一商品下面都是清一色的空洞好评而未提及任何不好的方面，那么在准备付款前定要三思。一些零售商雇人给他们的产品刷虚假的五星好评，以增加商品的评价星级和提高在亚马逊上的排名。寥寥数语的评论是这种欺诈的另一标志。

在评论中查找“已确认购买”标记可以帮助去伪存真，但它不能保证评论的真实性，因为有时确认收货的是卖家雇来刷评论星级的伪消费者。确认所读评论是否真实的最佳方法是寻找其中的个人使用细节及不完善之处。有时候，三星或四星评论要比好到让人难以置信的五星评论更能表明所选商品的品质。

如果这一切似乎令人不知所措的话，还可以使用人工智能来帮助解析亚马逊卖品的评论。“虚假评论筛选网站”仅在几秒内便能分析某一特定亚马逊列表上的所有评论，并搜寻那些与欺骗相关的典型因素，如相似的用词。然后它会告诉你现有的评价中有多少可能是真实的。

如果真想买到最好的商品，也可以常常离开亚马逊去别的网站搜搜看。如果一个商品在不太起眼的零售网站上的评论星级同它在亚马逊上的差不多的话，这个评论可能就是真实的。如果怀疑评价造假的话，可以点击评论旁边的“报告滥用情况”字样，以便让亚马逊知道。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖选手）

1美国著名的生活软件类效率博客，主要报道生活及技术领域的小窍门，教人如何利用这些窍门提高效率。  2 get a feel for sth善于理解某事物。

3 weed out剔除。  4专门致力于分析和鉴定虚假评论和假冒品的网站。