Are Most Product Reviews Truly Authentic?
Are the product revews we write truly authentic? This post begs the question.
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163
Great read Kaju!
I understand exactly what you're saying.
You're right in that we should purchase products to give a true reflection in our reviews.
I do see this happening especially with those products that are 'borderline' and you can't say whether they are a scam or not.
However, what do you say about a review based on 'evidence' such as:
Fake testimonials,
Prolific product creator,
Low BB rate,
Domain name has only been registered, yet the product has been on the market for months etc
Fake owner
Isn't it justifiable to NOT buy the product and base your reviews on this information alone?
Thanks for a great well-written post!
You pose a great question Jackie, Thank you!
Personally, I would shy away from those reviews yet I certainly wouldn't buy the product.
You STILL don' know if the "evidence" is real, in any good or bad way. There could be many reason, legitimate or illegitimate, why such "evidence" is available.
I always say, if I can't ascertain it, I won't review it.
There are SO many other products available out there I can review that don't fall in this "grey area category"
Those dubious products you mention might seem tempting to review, but they can lead you down a troublesome path. What you see is only circumstantial evidence. You can get into legal trouble later based only on assumptions.
So I would stick to only the products and services I can personally verify.
Thanks so much again Jackie:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
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Thanks Renante, welcome to WA, I appreciate your comment, and you're right. Let's do all our reviews first-hand.
Thanks so much again Tey:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
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That's one of the reasons why am hesitant sometimes about writing reviews is because I don't want to formulate things I have no clue about
It's always best to only write what you experience first-hand Angie. You are absolutely right for taking this stance. Good Luck and Thank You:)
Thanks so much again Angie:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
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This is a very important issue. Glad you raised it.
Personally, I only write reviews where I have the product available to me for testing. Period.
Great on you Steve! That's the only way one should write a review, and also safer for all involved. Period.
Thanks!:)
Thanks so much again Steve:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
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Thanks Kaju, As always you have great advice. One of the first things I've learned in the training is, in order to make money you first have to help people. Not convince people, you actually have to help them. I agree with all you are saying, you never know where a previous review comes from, or the emotion behind it. But you can't go wrong with what you yourself experience.
Thanks!
Help people first and foremost, and the money will come. But be authentic in your advice.
Thanks J!
Thanks so much again Jeooms:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
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Dear Kaju
That must be the Longest Post you have Written .Very well Written ; structured and balanced with Illustrations
It Had to be Written for all Affiliate Marketers Plus WA . You Have earned the right to do so with 229 Posts plus being a WA Ambassador rank4
Very clever of you to use Disingenuous and not the many synonyms
Has this post been developed over weeks or a day
Thank you for this Blog Post Kaju
David
Thank You David, this is the longest post I've written here in awhile - 2749 words. I wrote this post over one day (on and off), but have been thinking about doing it for awhile.
By the response, it seems that people think its a very important topic.:) You never know what type of post I might write next (lol!), one day it can be a story, or a travelogue, or "cheeky", another day it can be inspirational, then the next day it can be an important serious discussion. But it is usually related to how we can improve ourselves here and in our lives both personal and in business.
Hi Kaju
For you to write this Post in one day is proof you can Produce
Such Powerful and Intense Articles when you need to when you are Passionate about the subject matter
You are a blessing
David
Thanks so much again David:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
Check out our great Tokyo story as well as my Efren Reyes match win video play by play:)
Send me your YT link and I will Subscribe. You can Subscribe to my channel here:)
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Kaju, great post with lots of food for thought. You mentioned our responsibility to our audience. The question is what is our intent or motivation for writing a review. Is it to truly help our audience or persuade them to click an affiliate link in the hope of making a sale?
If our intent is to make a sale, the "review" is nothing more than a sales page. This is not to say the product being reviewed/sold does not benefit the purchaser.
Thank You Glen, this issue has been deeply on my mind and needed to come out in a post. If the review is indeed a sales page, then it should be portrayed as a sales page, not disguised as a review.
At least vet the product out properly by testing it first hand, even if this is at the expense of reviewing less products. The reader deserves authenticity and quality at all times.
It would be an interesting study to determine whether "review" pages outperform sales pages.
The fake reviews have taken over legitimate reviews. That's one reason Amazon now annotates reviews from "verified purchasers."
I personally disregard reviews unless there is some indication the reviewer actually purchased the product. Even though this can be faked.
That would be a GREAT study Glen, I would be curious to see the results.
I think it's very important to annotate reviews from "verified purchasers", didn't Amazon have to do this because it was being heavily criticized for allowing fake reviews at one time?
That bodes well on you Glen that you scan those reviews for authenticity, you will weed out more of them. Even though some can always slip through.
Good for you, Glen:)
I've been arguing this precise fact for quite some time. How can you give an honest PERSONAL review of anything unless you have been involved in it or physically had the article in your own personal possession? By re-mashing someone else's opinion, it can't be classed as your own personal take on it, and I believe that some members who have adopted this process have unfortunately given WA a bad name regarding reviews of certain companies.
Yes Gordon, unfortunately I have to agree with you. The only way to truly represent a review with complete authenticity is to test the product first-hand yourself. But I don't expect this to be a popular blog post topic here.
Thanks so much again Gordon:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
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Lol you're right. I felt the same way about writing reviews so I started sending emails directly to the manufacturers.
Surprisingly enough. I started getting free stuff.
So I only write reviews for the companies that send me a sample now because I too felt like a liar and a cheat writing a review about a product I didnt own.
Jonathan, what a creative and enterprising way of being able to verify products and service. Excellent, I'm gonna try that!
Thanks man!
Thanks so much again Jonathan:) I have a new You Tube channel where I'm producing great content.
Check out our great Tokyo story as well as my Efren Reyes match win video play by play:)
Send me your YT link and I will Subscribe. You can Subscribe to my channel here:)
http://bit.ly/2T21P2N
If you don't yet, I will happily return the favor when yours is up.:)