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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The review, like many on the e-commerce platform, is fake. It was written by Jason Wawiernia, a search engine optimization specialist in Michigan. After he left his glowing assessment of the product, Wawiernia received a refund through PayPal, in direct violation of Amazon's policies governing ratings and reviews. For third-party sellers, good ratings are critical for success on the platform, so it's no surprise some companies are buying them. Today, Amazon controls between 38 to 42 percent of the e-commerce market, and over half the products sold on the platform come from third-party sellers. Incentivized reviews aren't always a sign that a company is hawking cheap products. But they indicate the lengths sellers will go to try to stand out on the platform. One, called "Amazon Review Group Only USA" had a member named Douglas Meeks, nearly identical to the name of the number four reviewer on Amazon, Douglas C. Meeks. Meeks has reviewed products on Amazon that appear similar to those listed in the Facebook groups, including a razor from a Chinese company which he rated five stars. He did not respond to a request for comment from The Verge. The number one reviewer on Amazon, Sara, has a private profile, so her reviews cannot be easily searched. In September 2020, her profile picture was an image of two hands in the shape of a heart, backed by a glowing sunset. On Facebook, a member of an Amazon review group named Sarah Islam had a similar - though not identical - photo. Islam did not respond to a request for comment, and it's unclear whether the two profiles are connected. After The Verge began reporting this story, Sara changed her profile photo on Amazon to an image that read "so tired of fake people." She's since changed it again to a photo of a unicorn. The number two reviewer on the platform vanished shortly after The Verge began reporting this story. Their name was "the giving brook" and they'd left 4,641 reviews. The vast majority of their recent posts were for unknown Chinese brands. Zoe: Hi I'm here! Reviews are meant to be an indicator of quality to consumers. But they also signal to algorithms whose products should rise to the top. Given how hard it is for sellers to compete on Amazon's platform, it seems likely some will continue gaming the system. Amazon created the problem. Ultimately, the company needs to solve it, too. camera bag cyber mondaysaint laurent replica bag