Any mathematicians want to explain this to me?

raccoon · 2018-06-28T19:22:13.000Z

(https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Stegosaurus-Dino-Dog-Toy/product-reviews/B00168ROJK)

raccoon · 2018-06-28T19:40:28.000Z

By the way, I'm being a bit sarcastic.

Anyone that understands basic math should be able to see a huge problem here.

It makes me not want to trust Amazon very much.

will34 · 2018-06-28T19:45:37.000Z

Amazon calculates a product’s star ratings using a machine learned model instead of a raw data average. The machine learned model takes into account factors including: the age of a review, helpfulness votes by customers and whether the reviews are from verified purchases.

So basically even if your review is honest and true, but you’re not a user that submits reviews regularly and people don’t find your review useful, they don’t take it seriously…

ecotack · 2018-06-28T19:47:53.000Z

Looking at the dates people purchased the item, I’d say a weighted average based on the age of the review. 1 star is latest, so given a higher percentage of the combined star rating. Or some programmer messed up.

raccoon · 2018-06-28T19:55:13.000Z

will34:

Amazon calculates a product’s star ratings using a machine learned model instead of a raw data average. The machine learned model takes into account factors including: the age of a review, helpfulness votes by customers and whether the reviews are from verified purchases.

So basically even if your review is honest and true, but you’re not a user that submits reviews regularly and people don’t find your review useful, they don’t take it seriously...

I was not aware of this.

I always assumed that they took a raw data average.

Enderman · 2018-06-28T20:50:59.000Z

They’ve been making a bunch of changes to the review system lately because it used to be that manufacturers gave out free products in exchange for positive reviews.

DavidEF · 2018-06-28T20:55:10.000Z

Used to be? They’re still giving away free stuff in exchange for reviews!

x8353 · 2018-06-28T21:12:55.000Z

It is amusing that the highest rated review was complaining about getting the wrong item - it has nothing to do with the item that now has “2.1 stars.”

DavidEF · 2018-06-28T21:23:54.000Z

x8353:

It is amusing that the highest rated review was complaining about getting the wrong item - it has nothing to do with the item that now has “2.1 stars.”

The ONE negative review! The ONLY ONE! All the rest are 5-star reviews! :person_facepalming:

Lightbringer · 2018-06-28T22:31:51.000Z

It’s all that fancy book-larnin’…

MascaratumB · 2018-06-28T23:00:34.000Z

Funny thing is, I recently bought (despite being reimbursed later) a flashlight and I was supposed to make a(n honest) review of it on Amazon.
Because I didn’t use my debit card but a “virtual” card based on it (here the service is called MBWay), I wasn’t allowed to make a review as a “regular” buyer (non-user of virtual cards). :person_facepalming: :person_facepalming: :person_facepalming:

So, it seems to me that Amazon system is quite weird with these things. Not saying it is good or bad (maybe it is), but it may be annoying…

Specifically, about the Stegosaurus…I guess those positive reviews became…extinct in the middle of the process :partying_face:

Enderman · 2018-06-28T23:49:20.000Z

DavidEF:

Used to be? They’re still giving away free stuff in exchange for reviews!

Some sellers.
Now the sellers can get completely shut down, or the user’s account who wrote the review.
It’s still going to happen, but less, and changes take time.

DavidEF · 2018-06-29T00:05:34.000Z

Enderman:

DavidEF:

Used to be? They’re still giving away free stuff in exchange for reviews!

Some sellers.
Now the sellers can get completely shut down, or the user’s account who wrote the review.
It’s still going to happen, but less, and changes take time.

That’s good to know. The weighted review system still needs some tweaking though, obviously.

x8353 · 2018-06-29T00:45:24.000Z

Enderman:

DavidEF:

Used to be? They’re still giving away free stuff in exchange for reviews!

Some sellers.
Now the sellers can get completely shut down, or the user’s account who wrote the review.
It’s still going to happen, but less, and changes take time.

I had someone offer a flashlight for review. Not one I’d buy for myself, but some features I was curious about, so I said yes. Then came the “you buy, we reimburse.” Nope nope nope.

The BLF “they sent me this free for me to review” posts are generally great. I get more out of them than the vast majority of the Amazon user reviews — especially the one star Amazon reviews, which typically boil down to “this isn’t what I expected because I didn’t read the description or the reviews carefully or didn’t understand the hard parts,” or “I got a lemon, I haven’t tried a replacement.”

Or as in OP - “it didn’t come” or “it was the wrong thing” - why can’t Amazon filter those out? Or at least leave them out of the star rating?

I’d definitely like to see return of “they sent me this free” reviews to Amazon, if they were open, honest, and usefully informative. Better that than “I gave this to my son-in-law, and my daughter says he loves it.”

DavidEF · 2018-06-29T00:53:23.000Z

x8353:

Enderman:

DavidEF:

Used to be? They’re still giving away free stuff in exchange for reviews!

Some sellers.
Now the sellers can get completely shut down, or the user’s account who wrote the review.
It’s still going to happen, but less, and changes take time.

I had someone offer a flashlight for review. Not one I’d buy for myself, but some features I was curious about, so I said yes. Then came the “you buy, we reimburse.” Nope nope nope.

The BLF “they sent me this free for me to review” posts are generally great. I get more out of them than the vast majority of the Amazon user reviews — especially the one star Amazon reviews, which typically boil down to “this isn’t what I expected because I didn’t read the description or the reviews carefully or didn’t understand the hard parts,” or “I got a lemon, I haven’t tried a replacement.”

Or as in OP - “it didn’t come” or “it was the wrong thing” - why can’t Amazon filter those out? Or at least leave them out of the star rating?

I’d definitely like to see return of “they sent me this free” reviews to Amazon, if they were open, honest, and usefully informative. Better that than “I gave this to my son-in-law, and my daughter says he loves it.”

Yeah, I know some people strictly dislike the “they sent me this free” reviews because they think those must be inherently biased. But I think if the person is being up-front about it, and they write about the failures and annoyances of the thing as well as the successes, it’s a good review. As you said, much more useful than the “I bought this for a friend/uncle/girlfriend/whatever and they seem to like it” reviews, or the ever-present “Great product” or “Works for me” kind of reviews.