Spearheaded by Amazon, several online shopping and travel platforms announced on Tuesday the formation of the "Coalition for Trusted Reviews" to combat fake reviews and find best practices for online reviews.
Amazon, along with travel technology companies Expedia Group, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor, as well as review sites Glassdoor and Trustpilot, will join the said coalition to establish guidelines and advocacies, among others.
According to Amazon's press release, the coalition is committed to upholding the highest degree of "integrity, transparency, and accountability." Through joint efforts, the companies hope to establish new benchmarks for upholding the "authenticity of reviews, instilling confidence in consumers worldwide."
The coalition reportedly agreed to make sure the public is protected against fraudulent content by focusing on four main areas of collaboration and improvement: Industry Alignment, Best Practice Sharing, Information Sharing, and Advocacy.
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DANDENONG, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 05: The Amazon website is seen on December 5, 2017 in Dandenong, Australia. Amazon has ended months of speculation by launching its local website overnight.
Amazon Coalition's Areas of Focus
"Industry Alignment" is the coalition's aim to establish industry-wide guidelines and criteria for what qualifies as a fake review and other terminology and metrics for content moderation.
"Best Sharing Practice," on the other hand, will be the best practices for hosting online reviews, offering details on the most recent content moderation procedure and techniques for spotting fraudulent reviews to the public.
"Information Sharing" will be the coalition's aim to share with its users the possible tactics used by scammers when creating these fake reviews.
Lastly, "Advocacy" is said to be collaborating with academics and public policy experts to highlight the advantages of review material for readers and to support industry efforts to prevent the publication of phony reviews.
The Associated Press reported that Becky Foley, Tripadvisor's vice president for Trust & Safety, noted that the coalition's "immediate area of focus" will be battling those responsible for fabricating reviews.
Amazon's Vice President of Worldwide Selling Partner Services, Dharmesh Mehta, said that customer evaluations were a crucial component of the shopping experience, and the coalition aims to ensure that each one accurately reflects the experiences of actual customers.
Booking.com's Chief Security Officer, Spencer Mott, hinted at using "machine learning fraud detection models" to detect fake reviews and specialized tools for their experienced moderators to further assist and improve their "credibility."
The e-commerce giants reportedly met back in October 2022 at the first-ever "Fake Reviews Conference," where government, academic, and industry specialists spoke to the audience about the potential solutions related to the problem of bogus reviews.
This effort to reduce review fraud led to the formation of the coalition working together on public education and continuing information sharing among members.
Combating Fake Reviews
Fake Reviews have long been a topic of concern within e-commerce. The Federal Trade Commission recently proposed new legal provisions that would make it illegal for companies to buy or sell fraudulent reviews, censor genuine reviews, or offer fake social media interaction.
Amazon and Google, among others, have long fought against fake reviews, with Google previously announcing legal action against someone who created more than 350 false Google Business pages and attempted to bolster them with more than 14,000 bogus reviews.
Amazon has also reportedly filed multiple lawsuits against administrators and fraudsters that proliferate fake reviews concerning Facebook users and Amazon review brokers.
On December 5 and 6, the coalition's members will further discuss possible future provisions in Brussels for the second Fake Reviews Conference, reportedly organized by Amazon.
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