Amazon Baits Top Reviewers With Free Crap (and Journalists Follow the Trail)

We might just be naive, but this story destroyed everything we thought we knew about Amazon reviews.

Most of the site’s top reviewers are members of an elite “Vine” club called upon to “advocate” for brands that make everything from books to lightbulbs to cameras. Amazon encourages them to compete for the top spot by writing more, and partner companies looking for good reviews send them free crap while hoping for the best.

This isn’t nearly as far down the ethics scale as companies that churn out fake business and product write-ups, and it probably won’t be news to anyone in PR.