The
US online retail giant has filed a lawsuit in Seattle, Washington.
It
says its brand reputation is being damaged by "false, misleading and
inauthentic" reviews paid for by sellers seeking to improve the appeal of
their products.
It comes after
Amazon sued a number of websites
in April for selling fake
reviews.
Amazon says the
1,114 defendants, termed "John Does" as the company does not yet know
their real names, offer a false review service for as little as $5 (£3.24) on
the website Fiverr.com, with most promising five-star reviews for a seller's products.
"While
small in number, these reviews can significantly undermine the trust that
consumers and the vast majority of sellers and manufacturers place in Amazon,
which in turn tarnishes Amazon's brand," the technology giant said in its
complaint, which was filed on Friday.
Amazon
said it had conducted an investigation, which included purchasing fake customer
reviews on Fiverr from people who promised five-star ratings and offered to
allow purchasers to write reviews.
It
said it had observed fake review sellers attempting to avoid detection by using
multiple accounts from unique IP addresses.
Amazon
said the lawsuit was not targeting Fiverr, which is not a defendant in the
complaint. Fiverr said it was working with Amazon to resolve the issue.
"Amazon
is bringing this action to protect its customers from this misconduct, by
stopping defendants and uprooting the ecosystem in which they
participate," the lawsuit says.
Anyone,
whether they are a customer or not, has the ability to review products sold on
Amazon's online store, but the rules of the site forbid paid-for or fictional
reviews.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34565631
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