Amazon is Suing Two Companies for Allegedly Doing This on Its Platform

E-commerce giant Amazon is suing two companies that have allegedly helped to fill its site with fake reviews.

The company filed the lawsuits this week against two companies that allegedly acted as fake-review brokers.

Third-party sellers allegedly paid the companies, AppSally and Rebatest, for product reviews, with the hope that it would make their products’ ranking in Amazon search results better.

The lawsuits were filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle and say the companies allegedly connected third-party sellers with consumers who would leave a positive review of their product, in exchange for free products or payments.

Amazon said in a statement that the lawsuit seeks “to shut down two major fake-review brokers” that it claims “helped mislead shoppers by having their members try to post fake reviews in stores” like Amazon, eBay, Walmart and Etsy.

The company also added that AppSally and Rebatest say they have more than 900,000 users “willing to write fake reviews.”

AppSally and Rebatest have been in operation since 2018, according to court filings. Amazon’s complaint alleges AppSally orchestrated a scheme wherein sellers would pay the company a fee, in some cases as little as $25, to receive “verified reviews.”

After providing AppSally with a link to their product, the sellers would ship out empty boxes and provide AppSally with photos to be included with a user’s review, according to the suit.

The suit says that sellers would allegedly pay for the service with the hope that it boosted their product in Amazon search results. AppSally’s website allegedly promised sellers they’d be able to “outrank your competitors from your bedroom,” according to the complaint.

Similarly, Rebatest offered sellers a cache of reviews and other services to manipulate their product rankings, the suit states. Users would place an order for a product on Amazon and leave a review. Rebatest allegedly refunded a users’ purchase through services like PayPal.

Amazon seeks unspecified damages in both complaints, as well as an injunction against the companies to bar them from selling or facilitating the sale of Amazon reviews.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.