Belkin rep hiring folks to write fake reviews on Amazon?

Back in our day, if you weren't busy walking up uphill both ways, you'd write your own dang fake reviews on Amazon, but apparently Belkin's Michael Bayard -- or a clever impostor looking to smear the man's good name -- decided it'd be easier and totally non-obvious to hire people on Mechanical Turk to do it for him. For a whopping $0.65 cents you can write a 5 out of 5 review of a Belkin product, and downrank negative reviews while you're at it. Michael Bayard is a Business Development Representative at Belkin, and seems to have pulled the Mechanical Turk posting, but the him and his company have yet to comment publicly. Say it ain't so, Mike!

[Giga @ Jan 17th 2009 7:14PM]

Fail.

I always thought Belkin products were decent though.

[bot @ Jan 17th 2009 7:20PM]

I've always seen Belkin products as overpriced, and when you look at the reviews they seem to have the same fail rates and quality problems as other cheaper competitors.

[ack154 @ Jan 17th 2009 7:26PM]

I don't think I've ever run across a Belkin product that I actually liked or could have gotten something else better and/or cheaper.

[JohnTitor @ Jan 17th 2009 7:37PM]

the only belkin products I buy are their nice looking surge protectors

[Josh @ Jan 17th 2009 8:38PM]

The rockstar is a pretty cool splitter :)

But other than that, it's overpriced rubbish. You can go into an electrical outlet and they'll be selling 1m USB cables for upwards of £15 ($25)..

[ImaYam @ Jan 17th 2009 8:57PM]

A corporation acting unethically?

I've never heard of such blasphemy!!

[Flashpoint @ Jan 17th 2009 8:58PM]

ANYONE CAN WRITE A REVIEW TO BOOST A PRODUCTS IMAGE.

that's why I use Epinions to write/read reviews. Real people write there (I've written over 125) and its nohere near as controlled or censored as Amazon or most of these other review sites.

When you lockdown these things/previewing reviews and rejecting what you don't like - it brings the validity of your site and the question of bias into the picture.

[GenBanks @ Jan 17th 2009 9:09PM]

I own a Belkin product that I use frequently and bought because it would be useful and it has exceeded my wildest expectations.

Thank you, my favorite etailer, for once again providing me with a great deal!

The other people posting here don't know what they're talking about. I downranked all of you.



(Paycheck now, pls?)

[Chuckles McGee @ Jan 17th 2009 9:35PM]

You wish they'd take the money used to write fake reviews and put it towards improving issues described in negative reviews.

[Like_A_Glove @ Jan 17th 2009 10:28PM]

and where am I?.......... China?

[Techie @ Jan 17th 2009 10:57PM]

Failing with honor is better than succeeding while cheating.

[Like_A_Glove @ Jan 18th 2009 12:06AM]

@Techie

I'm gonna rank you down, cos educative, profound and inspiring stuff is not welcome here, more jokes please.

[Mark @ Jan 18th 2009 2:00AM]

I bought me a 15' Belkin HDMI cable cable for 15$ - I've nothing against them.

[LondonConsultant @ Jan 18th 2009 6:48AM]

I've bought many Belkin products over the years. There's a funny, yet touching, story behind each one of these purchases, some involving my disabled grandmother and others involving sick children at my local hospital. All the products were excellent and improved the quality of life for those that came into contact with them. And the online retailer I bought them from delivered on time and included a free selection of Belgian chocolates, Odeon cinema tickets, and a one month pass for East European lapdancers at Spearmint Rhino.

Belkin - You can donate the $0.65 cents to my PayPal account.

[Freakin Ijit @ Jan 18th 2009 7:19AM]

Why does anyone think =Belkin= placed this ad? Seems to me to have the flavor of an attack on Belkin, like from a recently-ex employee.

And before you note the "author" of the ad, if I sign this post "Barack Obama" does that mean Barack Obama posted this post?

[chefgon_ign @ Jan 18th 2009 12:00PM]

I see your point, Mr Obama.

[unzarjones @ Jan 18th 2009 12:19PM]

If it was signed Mr. Tax Totalitarian, I would know it was Obama.

[Wwhat @ Jan 18th 2009 10:54PM]

In my view belkin is a dual-deal company, they make cheap not-so-great stuff but they also make expensive decent stuff, only they sell both categories under the same name for some reason, that's my impression of them.
And yeah I'd hold off judgement until some better evidence that they are 'pulling a nividia' here.

[Ken @ Jan 19th 2009 5:02PM]

You guys don't understand!! This is just a $0.65 rebate program for satisfied customers. Silly Engadget picking on Belkin. Shame on you!!

[Fred @ Jan 17th 2009 7:14PM]

F'ing Belkin. Just one more reason for me to actively avoid their products.

[Alex @ Jan 17th 2009 11:33PM]

$40 for an FM transmitter that can broadcast to your choice of thee stations!!!

[eggothewaffle @ Jan 17th 2009 7:16PM]

Ugh, this is why it should be spelled asstroturfing.

[ShogunMaster @ Jan 17th 2009 7:17PM]

I think this idea from Belkin is 5/5 FTW! I plan on low ranking anyone who says otherwise.

[Tankyu @ Jan 17th 2009 7:24PM]

Oh no they got to you too!

[everybodypoops28 @ Jan 17th 2009 8:37PM]

I happen to disagree...

[ShogunMaster @ Jan 17th 2009 7:18PM]

Oh, and someone owes me $0.65. Thanks...

[Celedhring @ Jan 17th 2009 7:29PM]

That looks like an awful lot of work for 65 cents...

[noyp @ Jan 17th 2009 7:33PM]

I wonder if they'd mail it to you...

[morganvachon @ Jan 17th 2009 7:34PM]

They figured they could pay the same as their product assembly line workers.

[DeoWulf @ Jan 17th 2009 7:46PM]

@morganvachon

And designers, testers, and tech support to boot!

[Rawb @ Jan 18th 2009 12:27PM]

Five out of Five Stars. Will recommend to all of my friends. A+++

I found this post to be the best I've ever read. I thought reading dribble off of other sites was all there was to the interweb. Boy was I wrong! After reading this post I lost 15 pounds and cleared my achne. My girlfriend now can't get enough of me and I made lots of friends. Thank you PM!

I take only PayPal and Zimbabwe Central Bank notes. K. Thx.

What a sad day if this turn out to be true. Like it wouldn't hit the wire. I never had a problem with Belkin products.

[Towncivilian @ Jan 17th 2009 7:32PM]

I was going to post a review saying how my Belkin UPS never gave me any problems.

But then I realized the irony of that.

[Jouten @ Jan 17th 2009 7:37PM]

Belkin products have been generally good for me. Phillips products on the other hand...melted wiring, etc, etc.

It's just unfortunate that a company that makes fairly decent products stoop to this level.

[Sarig @ Jan 17th 2009 9:34PM]

EVERQUEST 2 :D

[Wwhat @ Jan 18th 2009 11:02PM]

I remember reading how phillips even got sued (and lost) by the US army for trying to give them lousy defective parts (back before they got rid of their parts division), amazing nerve to try to pull such a stunt with the US army, I mean you know they'd notice and then have lots of resources to get back at them.

[andthepickles @ Jan 17th 2009 9:48PM]

I'm sure Belkin isn't the ONLY company that has done this.

[BobTurbo @ Jan 17th 2009 7:37PM]

I don't think anybody should trust any reviews. The only value they have is to give you inside information about a product that you can hopefully then test before you buy. I think the amazon stars are pointless unless they are linked to a trust system with your closest friends.

[Bill @ Jan 17th 2009 11:33PM]

I agree completely. I'd say more, but the satellite is due overhead any moment, and I must wrap my head in tinfoil lest it consume my brain. Trust no one, neither Belkin nor Amazon.

[siddharth s @ Jan 17th 2009 7:49PM]

Wouldn't this be against Amazon's terms of service? I mean Belkin is directly hurting Amazon in this process since people won't go to Amazon if they realize their ratings don't hold any value due to such practices.

Due to business reasons, I think this would be of great interest to Amazon to look into and pursue.

[GregH @ Jan 17th 2009 7:49PM]

That's more than 50 words. No $0.65 for you!

[Larry Sheldon @ Jan 17th 2009 7:54PM]

Belkin, I do believe, is the outfit that makes equipment that intercepts your requests and redirects them to sites of their choosing.

[CleverEndeavor @ Jan 17th 2009 7:54PM]

Why the hell are you talking about WinMo? this is about Belkin, go away apple fanboy, go away to your dark cave where you worship your "god."

[CleverEndeavor @ Jan 17th 2009 7:56PM]

Why are you talking about WinMo? this is an article about Belkin. You fail. Now go away Apple fanboy to your dark cave where you worship your "god."

[Malaycobra @ Jan 17th 2009 8:00PM]

Belkin Products are great!
Just my $0.65...

[Malaycobra @ Jan 17th 2009 8:03PM]

not

[Matt @ Jan 17th 2009 8:13PM]

You're 18 words short! No $0.65 for you!

[BigD145 @ Jan 17th 2009 8:14PM]

I wish I could pay .65 for a Belkin product. That's about what most of them are worth. Wait, what was this article about.

[Jon Nelson @ Jan 17th 2009 8:00PM]

Sorry, CleverEndeavor, but the double post is almost as bad as iEye's completely offtopic comment about WinMo.

[Ethan @ Jan 17th 2009 8:03PM]

Tbh mechanical turk postings always sound like 90% admin 10% actual job. How do you check up on this exactly?

[Harley3k @ Jan 17th 2009 8:14PM]

Guess what brand I'll be avoiding now?