Should You Trust Website Customer Reviews?

crevette asks: "I was looking on Amazon for some gizmo when I got a review from G. Cooke, TX, who is in the top 10 reviewers. Out of curiosity, I checked her reviews... She has 658 reviews, many on the same day, which include everything from knife sets to a plastic duck! She reviews many books on the same day... She must be spending hundreds of dollars on useless stuff every month. Worst of all, most of her reviews are 5 stars. Do you think those people are paid by Amazon or some company? Do you trust them? If not (like I tend to think) what can we do about it?"

Comments

Re:Some info on Gail Cooke

[NixterAg]

[sexist rant]...and there's some poor sap working his ass off to fund her little self-glorification mission as a critic queen.

You know all of those Lincoln SUVs you see driving around with some 40-ish woman carting her kids back and forth to soccer practice? Yep, some poor bastard is slaving to pay for her hair appointments too.[/sexist rant]

Disclaimer: I'm just kidding?

Re:Cheap reviewers

[Ninja Programmer]

Now we know where the former Anderson consulting executives have gone to work ...

Re:Amazon rejected my review...

[SweetAndSourJesus]

Can I peruse your personal history so that I'm a more "fullly informed" slashdot reader?

I want to know who I'm dealing with here.

In fact, I want to know if my liquor store clerk has ever been charged with littering. I want to know if the guy making my lunch likes to wear women's underwear. It's my right to be fully informed, isn't it?