WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN ONLINE SHOPPING REVIEWS

13 Things Savvy Shoppers Look for in Online Reviews BY CHARLOTTE HILTON ANDERSEN.  

If you rely on online reviews to decide which products to buy, beware: Nearly 30 percent are phony, planted by companies to boost their sales or tank their competitors' rankings. To avoid getting scammed, watch for these warning signs. 1. A Sketchy Reviewer Profile On most sites, you can see a ­reviewer's past reviews by clicking on the username. Be wary if someone has only one review, reviews only one type of product (say, diet pills), leaves only very positive reviews, or reviews products from only one company. 2. Signs of Compensation One clear clue a reviewer got paid is that the bio page shows many similar reviews of comparable products. Some even admit getting a gift card or receiving the product for free in return for the review. 3. Too Much Detail Fake reviews, especially for health products, often spout a long list of claims, "facts," or marketing-speak. 4. Too Little Detail On the flip side, bulk fake reviews rely on generalities so they can be copied to different products. 5. First-Person Pronouns It may seem counterintuitive, but Cornell University researchers found that fake reviews are often peppered with I or my to make them seem more personal. Real people use a wider variety of nouns and adjectives. 6. Alternative Product Placement To spot fakes written by competitors, watch for negative reviews that include high praise for a specific alternative, with a link to their "preferred" product. 7. One-Star and Five-Star Reviews Read reviews in the middle. Fake reviewers often love it or hate it, but real people will often be more measured. 8. Super Short Reviews Paid shills aim to get a product's overall grade as high as possible as quickly as possible, so they'll hit the five-star button and type something quick like "Great service! 9. Review Clusters Fake reviewers often inundate a new product with reviews to generate buzz. A huge red flag is if all the five-star reviews were written within 24 hours or if there are clusters of reviews between periods of inactivity. 10. Word Repetition To make it easier for people to review their products, companies often provide text to reviewers that they can cut and paste. 11. Entire Brand Names Real reviewers won't bother to type out the entire name of a product. But fraudsters will include the company name, make, and model to get better search engine optimization. 12. A Turnaround in Attitude Reviewers swear they came in ready to hate a product but changed their minds based on its sheer awesomeness. But how likely is it that people would buy products they thought they would hate? 13. Too! Many! Exclamation! Points!!! Real reviewers use a variety of punctuation, whereas fake reviews rely heavily on extreme praise peppered with exclamation points and emojis.