Shoppers Warned About Dodgy Online Reviews November 3, 2007
Read more Consoles , Entertainment , Gadgets , Gizmodo UK , Technology
We all know the Wibbly Wobbly Web gives a voice to everyone but UK shoppers are being warned to watch out for bogus online product reviews in the run-up to the Christmas splurge.
According to a YouGov survey, 6 out of 10 online shoppers are five times more likely to be influenced by a positive customer review of a product than by that product’s advertising. Considering UK shoppers are planning to splash out a record £42bn this e-Christmas – a lot of that on tech toys - it may pay to be a little less gullible.
Reevoo, the independent customer review publisher that sponsored the research, says a kitemark is needed to highlight genuine customer reviews.
Richard Anson, chief executive of Reevoo, said: “The influence of reviews is no longer in doubt and we think it is time that regulators looked at the way that customer reviews are presented online. Are they edited? Are they legitimate? Given the influence that customer reviews have, now is the time for regulation and standards to be applied, so that customers are not misled.”
Personally, I say stick with the official reviews sites: leading games sites for games, car sites for cars and gadget sites for gadgets. Never trust online customers – especially those posting on retail sites.-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
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Comments
Actually, writing reviews without disclosing your allegiances will be made illegal in the EU within the year:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/03/eu_flogging_ban/
first time on Gizmodo - and guess what ??? it is NOT designed for firefox. It does not display properly in a firefox.
I cant believe this ! Gizmodo of all places tagging along with IE.
works fine for me, maybe its your goddamn eyes
Hey Anjanesh, Martin Lynch here. You shouldn't be having problems. I use Firefox exclusively and it looks fine.
My advice would be to read more then one review, and for the most of the time ignore website where they are selling the product themselves