I just finished an article on a news aggregator site that should be alarming. It was on Buzzfeed, usually useless "junk-food for the brain" and downright biased so-called "news", but, occasionally they swerve into something useful. It was about shill reviewers being paid to post good reviews in return for third party products or rebates on Amazon and other similar sites. And it is far more common than you may think. These people are addicted to this because to them they are getting free things for their lies. They think it is harmless, in all actuality they are "thieves by proxy" employed by crooked knock-off peddlers. We depend on honest reviews and opinions to weed out potential junk and knock-off goods and services and along come these tools who only want to satisfy their weird addiction that is no different than a hoarder or gambling. They do not have the common sense or intelligence to see what they are doing to themselves or others. Yes, shill reviews affects others, obviously. But how can I make the connection to gambling and hoarding addictions? They have their outside victims, too. A hoarders vermin infestation infests the neighbourhood, the gamblers losses takes food and housing from their family, that's how.
But I digress, it is not the fault of Amazon, for example, they have strict rules governing this. They are fighting a losing battle. These morons will run several backup accounts linked to different cash cards that can be purchased at retail stores or are just plane secretive about it. So how can we fight this scum? Very easy, by using something they don't have, common sense. True, it's not 100% effective, but certainly is well over 95. And usually the remaining can be rectified with refunds and returns.
So, where to begin? First, never completely depend on the reviews on the retail site. They are not reviews, they are opinions. Reviews are conducted by people and companies who compare the merchandise to the same or similar offerings by other manufacturers or sellers. They also test the product to it's fullest in an attempt to find deficiencies or defects. They don't depend on free products shipped to them by the manufacturer or seller. These can be modified, optimized or "cherry picked" to fetch a better review. A reputable reviewer will purchase anonymously the product to be reviewed, sometimes, more than one to eliminate "fluke good quality". That is not to say that opinions can not be valuable, they can, as long as they are approached with intelligent scepticism.
So, how do I weed out the reviews from the opinions and outright lies? First, find a review site geared to your interest. One way is to use a search engine to find a review on the item of interest, and that is not Google. They are paid or biased to put certain listings at the top without regard to authenticity, Not to mention their privacy policies, or, lack there of. Use Duckduckgo for example. Like Dogpile it sounds odd and flaky, but works without privacy concerns.
1. Enter something like "Tele Vue Ethos review". Include as much relevant information as you can, but not an entire paragraph, for example. You will get some adds that state for example the "The Tele Vue Ethos had an excellent review, so buy it here for less", but those are easy to spot most times without even opening the site.
2. You can limit this by using advanced search terms and operators. Each search engine is different, but they all have them. For example, "Tele Vue Ethos" +review -eBay would search for a review of a Tele Vue Ethos, but not on ebay or a place, like a forum for example, that mentions eBay.
3. Don't go by one reviewer, they are people and, well, as such are fallible. Also, watch for incorrectly used terms in the review that seem out of place or for excessive grammatical errors. If you find this, don't waste your valuable time and move on. Also, Sky and Telescope and Astronomy magazines run frequent reviews and they know what they are talking about. Search their sites for current or past reviews.
Now, on to retail site reviews, or as I stated, opinions. Sometimes an item is kind of new and hasn't been reviewed yet or is just not on any reviewers "radar", yet or ever. How do you weed out the shills from the useful opinions?
1. Search forums like this one, for example. Shill reviewers will almost certainly never post anything here, They are too generalized. Your friends and acquaintances here generally will not steer you wrong. But, we are not infallible either. One can have the occasional "Owners Ego", that basically says "I own it, so it's the best". I'm not out to step on toes, but it is an attitude that does exist. If you are offering an opinion, be as removed and objective as you can. If the drive in the fork mount of your telescope has a periodic error and it does not affect your visual use of the instrument, mention it. The other fellow may intend to use it for photography and will need to know of the potential problem. Lastly, thank the one who gave you the information so valuable to you, it's a very good feeling for both of you.
2. On-site opinions can be useful, too, if used intelligently. You can not depend on listings from different third party sellers because the reviews are grouped by product, not seller. When you read opinions, start with the one and two stars first. Some are kind of amusing. But know there is also competitive shilling, bad reviews from a competing brand or seller. Not common, they are usually too occupied running their own businesses. Repetitive good or bad opinions that read like boilerplate documents are most certainly shill reviews. Now, when reading the four and five star opinions watch for language you would not use in describing the item or how it is used to another person like yourself. You cannot learn this from a book or other opinions and these tools don't have the time or patience to take away from their addiction, anyway. For example, a shill eyepiece review would be "The picture looks real nice and sharp, I would buy another one". Looks good, right? Wrong. This is how I would describe it short and sweet, "On my 8"/200mm
3. If "A picture is worth a thousand words", holding the item in your hand and trying it in person is most certainly worth an entire book. To get the opinion one on one with the questions you need answered instantly is priceless. Trying out the candidate accessory is also priceless, not to mention the friendships to be made. Join a club or go to a star party and you will have access to more reviews, opinions and equipment to try than you will know what to do with. If you are short of cash, maybe they have a one time reduced rate to join for those with a hardship. At least go and network.
There you go, hopefully I have inoculated you better to these parasites infesting the on line retail world better. Obviously this information can protect you from being taken on more than amateur astronomy goods. Feel free to "lift" it and modify it for any other forums you may be a member of. I would never claim a copyright on something like this. But maybe mention where and who it came from, if you will. If not, who cares either way. Just the thought of damaging these losers is enough for me.
