Amazon officials have sued four websites connected with allegedly misleading customers with fake, positive reviews, Reuters reports.
Company representatives filed an official complaint on Wednesday at the King County Superior Court in Washington, claiming the four websites were negatively affecting the online retailer's review process.
"While small in number, these reviews threaten to undermine the trust that customers, and the vast majority of sellers and manufacturers, place in Amazon, thereby tarnishing Amazon's brand," the complaint said, according to the site.
One of the websites, buyamazonreviews.com, allows manufacturers to purchase unlimited four and five-star reviews written by "skilled writers" who analyze a variety of products. The alleged owner of the site, California resident Jay Gentile, is expected to appear in court over the controversy. Other unnamed defendants include those who run the buyreviewsnow.com and bayreviews.net sites.
The complaint filed by Amazon officials also claim the websites used a "slow drip" method, which produces doctored reviews at a slow pace so as to avoid being detected by the site's monitoring mechanisms.
"Despite substantial efforts to stamp out the practice, an unhealthy ecosystem is developing outside of Amazon to supply inauthentic reviews," the complaint also reads, according to GeekWire.
"Defendants' businesses consist entirely of selling such reviews."
The ongoing case is Amazon's first-ever lawsuit.
