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Fake customer ratings

September 20, 2016

The online retail industry continues to grow, having almost doubled in volume over the last four years. Ratings from customers are paying an increasingly important role – except not all are what they seem.

https://p.dw.com/p/1K5Cn
DW Shift Fake Customer Ratings
Image: ZDF

Nice price, rapid delivery, and decent quality are all important for most online purchasers. The opinions of previous customers can also play a role, however. Shops with four or five stars turn over around 30% more than those with poorer ratings. So companies such as Trusted Shops have turned the confidence factor into a business model. Staff use special software to check the authenticity of customer appraisals – around 15,000 comments per day – and then award a seal of quality for trustworthy online traders. Around 25,000 stores across the EU already bear the certificate.