Amazon's Choice Products Aren't Always What They Claim to Be
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for SoyCow1337:
Amazon's Choice Products Aren't Always What They Claim to Be:
The Amazon's Choice badges customers turn to for endorsed or recommended products were found sometimes to be fake or even unsafe.
An investigation published by the Wall Street Journal reveals that the Amazon's Choice badge can be attached to products that make false claims, have safety concerns, or are even manipulated by the sellers. The investigation said that while there are legitimate listings with a badge, customers should double-check what is "endorsed" by the tech giant.
The Journal identified that the badge is more likely to appear on Amazon's AmazonBasics products and that sellers were able to manipulate the endorsement by promoting specific keywords in the products' description or contained other brand names.
Examples of fake or illegitimate Amazon's Choice products named in the investigation include cellphone chargers that claim they are made by Apple but are a completely different brand, as well as a fat burner supplement, which makes claims that are against Amazon's policies.
Amazon's Choice badges were created in 2015 to coincide with the Amazon Alexa, so people could say, "Alexa, buy a cell phone charger," and Alexa would add the top Amazon's choice result to the shopping cart.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.