Amazon permanently bans 600 Chinese brands for review fraud
A spokesperson says that these 600 brands were banned for knowingly, repeatedly, and significantly violating Amazon
Remember when device vendors Aukey, Mpow, RavPower, Vava, TaoTronics, and Choetech began mysteriously disappearing from Amazon's online store, and it turned out that Amazon had intentionally thrown them away while vaguely pointing out the sanctity of their user reviews? Turns out they were just the tip of the iceberg. Amazon has now permanently banned more than 600 Chinese brands from 3,000 different seller accounts, the company confirms to The Verge.
Amazon says that's the big tally after five months of its global crackdown, and it's no longer shy about why: A spokesperson tells us that these 600 brands were banned for knowingly, repeatedly, and significantly violating Amazon's policies, especially those of Amazon related to abuse of reviews.
The South China Morning Post reported the figures earlier, citing an interview with a vice president of Amazon Asia on state television. The Amazon crackdown began amid reports by Nicole Ngyuen of The Wall Street Journal about companies like RavPower offering gift cards in exchange for reviews.
I've been collecting cards like this as well. Amazon banned the practice of incentivized reviews in 2016, but it's a tricky business: some of these offers are disguised as a VIP testing program or an extended warranty. Other companies only offer incentives after you've left a bad review — they'll give you a free product or offer a "refund" of free money, no return required, as long as you'll delete your negative review.
It is not clear what other Chinese brands could be included in Amazon's latest offensive, and it is very possible that some of their products are escaping from the Amazon network. Even though Aukey was one of the first high-profile companies to get banned in May, the company was still selling headphones under a sub-brand in July, and you can still buy a pair of them on Amazon even today. I also found a Choetech wireless charging pad and a RavPower battery. We have asked Amazon to explain its policies on the bailout and will let you know what we hear.
In early July, Shenzhen's parent company Youkeshu Technology (better known as YKS) reported that Amazon had closed 340 of YKS 'online stores and frozen more than $ 20 million in assets, according to the South China Morning Post. The post described YKS as one of the largest Chinese retailers on the platform. Find Amazon Statement Here:
Amazon works hard to build a great experience in our store so that customers can shop with confidence and sellers have the opportunity to grow their business amid healthy competition. Customers rely on the accuracy and authenticity of product reviews to make informed purchasing decisions and we have clear policies for both reviewers and selling partners that prohibit abuse of our community features. We suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies, wherever they are in the world.
We will continue to improve abuse detection and take enforcement action against bad actors, including those that knowingly engage in multiple and repeated policy violations, including review abuse. We are confident that the steps we take are in the best interests of our customers as well as the honest businesses that make up the vast majority of our global selling community.
Source: The Verge