Amazon Shuts 600 Chinese Electronic Brands Over Paid Reviews

Amazon has banned 3,000 online merchant accounts which were backed by 600 Chinese brands from its store. This shutdown was part of the E-Commerce Giants crackdown on consumer review abuses that were first reported by The Wall Street Journal. The report has shown that many companies offer gift cards to customers in exchange for positive reviews on the store.

Some of these offers were also disguised as VIP testing programs or extended product warranties. Many companies offered incentives to people who posted a bad review by giving them a free product or a full refund as long as they took down the negative review. Cindy Tai, Amazon Vice President for Asia Global Selling, said the crackdown was not focused to target China or any other country. She also said the crackdown did not affect the growth of Chinese brands on the platform.

Amazon said that the Customers depend 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. They suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies, wherever they are in the world.

The E-commerce giant also added that they 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. The company said the actions taken were in the interest of customers and to maintain an honest business.