The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is finally tackling the scourge of fake reviews on online marketplaces like Amazon, bringing its first successful case against a company that it said paid to artificially boost its product’s ratings.
The agency filed a complaint on Feb. 19 alleging that the company, Cure Encapsulations, Inc., and its owner, Naftula Jacobowitz, paid a website called Amazonverifiedreviews.com to post glowing critiques of a weight loss supplement called garcinia cambogia. In addition to maintaining a rating of at least 4.3 out of 5 stars, the reviews asserted that the product was a “powerful appetite suppressant” that “literally blocks fat from forming” — claims that the FTC found to be false and unsubstantiated.
See Also
As part of the terms of the settlement, announced Tuesday, the company must notify Amazon that it paid for fake reviews, violating the e-commerce giant’s terms of service, and must contact anyone who purchased the supplements to disclose the FTC’s findings.
Cure Encapsulations and its owner are also now barred from making “weight loss, appetite suppression, fat-blocking or disease treatment claims for any dietary supplement, food or drug unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence in the form of human clinical testing supporting the claims.” If the company does continue marketing products, it is prohibited from misrepresenting endorsements. Finally, the agency levied a $12.8 million judgment against the company, of which it will have to pay $50,000, with the remainder due if it is found to have misrepresented its financial situation.
“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules.”
Amazon’s fake-review problem has been widely known for years: The company banned incentivized reviews in October 2016 and has since shut down accounts suspected of abusing the system and even sued websites and individuals for selling fraudulent reviews online. Still, the issue has persisted, according to review audit sites like ReviewMeta and FakeSpot.
“We welcome the FTC’s work in this area,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “Amazon invests significant resources to protect the integrity of reviews in our store because we know customers value the insights and experiences shared by fellow shoppers. Even one inauthentic review is one too many. We have clear participation guidelines for both reviewers and selling partners and we suspend, ban and take legal action on those who violate our policies.”
Fake reviews are particularly rampant in high-margin categories like Bluetooth speakers and headphones, per the sites, but certain styles of shoes and accessories are targets, too. These categories will likely become even more competitive as an increasing number of shoppers turn to Amazon for fashion purchases.
Last year, a survey of several of the top Facebook groups showed that footwear had become a popular category for sellers looking to trade free or heavily discounted product for glowing reviews. For example, posts for knitted sneakers, LED kids’ shoes and platform stilettos have racked up dozens of comments from interested users, while many such items ultimately earned failing grades on more legitimate review websites.
Until now, federal regulators haven’t intervened to prevent the proliferation of fraudulent reviews, which can be used to promote dangerous products (the offending weight loss supplement has been associated with acute liver failure), counterfeits or poor-quality merchandise, but the FTC’s latest case should put unscrupulous sellers on watch.
Over the years, Amazon has had a strenuous relationship with some shoe brands, most notably Birkenstock, over alleged knockoffs on its platform. It made headlines in 2017 when Nike announced a trial partnership with the e-tail behemoth — a deal market watchers deemed an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” move on Nike’s part, after it too struggled to rein in unauthorized sales of its wares.
Just this month, Amazon admitted to its challenges with controlling the proliferation of counterfeit goods on its site. While the firm isn’t legally responsible for third-party counterfeits, it has said that it has zero-tolerance policy on fake items.
Only time will tell whether the FTC’s involvement marks a significant step toward Amazon building and maintaining a higher level of trust for both shoppers and sellers on the site.
There are many ways to grab the audience’s attention. We are spoiled with choice, even though the current state of technologies is still imperfect. We are experiencing some browser compatibility issues, and not every device can deal with all those grandiose solutions that web developers bring to us.
Nevertheless, the days of static websites where images were the main driving force and sliders with fancy transitions were the only spice have gone. We are witnessing an era of bold ideas and extravaganzas.
Among the greatest aspects is that developers don’t limit their focus to big things. Yes, we can see numerous canvas animations, overwhelming VR and video experiments that require a full-screen mode, etc. However, today even the tiniest details get their own dose of attention.
Websites are teeming with microscopic solutions, especially those that are based on the mouse cursor. We can stumble upon numerous smart ideas. They are fantastic, but in the majority of cases they are (what’s the word I’m looking for?), “quiet”. I’m not talking about them making sounds since some of the mouse-based solutions actually do make a sound. I’m talking about their behavior.
Their behavior is smooth, calm and gentle. In some cases, it is so seamless that it is barely perceptible. And if you are too engaged with the content or there are some other distracting elements, the chances are you can even overlook them. So, why not to make them a bit “louder”, so that users won’t miss an opportunity to enjoy them?
How to do this, you may ask. I have one good solution: make things explode – literally and figuratively.
The Complete Toolbox for Web Designers Unlimited Downloads: 500,000+ Web Templates, Themes, Plugins & Design Assets
Take, for example, this fantastic code snippet created by Dean Wagman. Although this is the first canvas experiment conducted by Dean, nevertheless it is highly inspiring. All you need to do is to click anywhere on the screen, and you will see a blast of hundreds of small bright particles that are flying right at your face. Even though it does not make a sound, it certainly feels tumultuous.
Explosion effects always awaken a feeling that something loud has happened. So, why not to use this to our advantage and add some noise without making an actual sound? The more so, we have a selection of fantastic code snippets here. Let’s explore them together.
If the solution by Dean Wagman looks a bit too much, you can always try Particle explosion by Aleksei. Or if, on the contrary, you need to make a more significant impact you can always adopt Kaboomerz by Christopher Lis.
The first code snippet features a “little brother” version of Dean’s explosion, where dozens of tiny particles form a small blast that quickly appears and dies. In the case of Christopher Lis, you will be surprised by the size of the particles. The confetti that emerges from the mouse cursor is tremendously huge. However, thanks to their short lifespan, the overall effect is not overwhelming. It is just pleasing.
If you like this idea but need something more digital-like and retro-inspired, then there is an amazing solution created by David. He uses rectangles of various sizes instead of circles to achieve a lovely 8-bit touch. As a result, we can witness a small blast with ‘80s charisma.
If you seek a realistic version, WebGL Sparkles by CreateJS is a perfect example to consider. Even though all of the particles here are white, thanks to the well-thought-out behavior it looks like real celebratory gunfire when you click on the screen. What’s more, the cursor has a lovely trail that gives the scene a touch of magic.
Speaking of which, our collection of explosions won’t be complete without a dose of pyrotechnics madness. Automatic Firework Launcher by Christopher Lis is a fantastic example to consider. It is a cartoonish firework launcher. Thanks to colorful particles and carnation-like shapes, it reminds us of real fireworks that light up the starry sky.
Canvas experiments are not the only ones in our list. Explosion effects can be applied to various elements of the interface, like a modal window. LegoMushroom has vivid proof of that. Take a look at their modal window concept. When you close the window, instead of just disappearing, it breaks into several pieces. It is a perfect addition to all those fancy fully-illustrated websites that are quite popular these days.
Explosion effects can be beneficial for typography as well. Consider the SCSS Explosion Effect by Sylvain Garnot, SVG text explosion by Kacper Bawol and Canvas text explosion by Tim Horwood.
All three demonstrate an explosion effect applied to the text. Predictably, the mouse cursor triggers each one.
Sylvain Garnot lets users blow each letter up into a hundred tiny squares. The concept by Kacper Bawol looks almost the same, yet this time the symbol breaks into small triangles. And, Tim Horwood allows users to blow the entire text up into tiny particles that eventually come back and return everything to its original state. All three ideas are just incredible.
The explosion effect can be also applied to images. This concept by Ko.Yelie is a great example. By clicking on the picture, you blow it up to tiny pieces. Although it is difficult to find an application for this in real life interfaces, it is always great to have some extraordinary solutions at your fingertips that can make common things look one-of-a-kind.
An explosion effect is a controversial tool. It is not suited for each and every interface out there because of its “explosive” nature and powerful charisma. Even though it seems harmless and even neutral when applied in tandem with the mouse cursor, it is pretty “loud” – so you need to be cautious.
Remember, not all people seek entertainment from websites. And not everyone is up to extravaganzas and overwhelming impressions. At the end of the day, content always remains the king.
However, if you are looking for some unusual ways to make for an exciting user interaction that is playful and so-to-say “loud”, then an explosion effect can undoubtedly come in handy.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is finally tackling the scourge of fake reviews on online marketplaces like Amazon, bringing its first successful case against a company that it said paid to artificially boost its product’s ratings.
The agency filed a complaint on Feb. 19 alleging that the company, Cure Encapsulations, Inc., and its owner, Naftula Jacobowitz, paid a website called Amazonverifiedreviews.com to post glowing critiques of a weight loss supplement called garcinia cambogia. In addition to maintaining a rating of at least 4.3 out of 5 stars, the reviews asserted that the product was a “powerful appetite suppressant” that “literally blocks fat from forming” — claims that the FTC found to be false and unsubstantiated.
See Also
As part of the terms of the settlement, announced Tuesday, the company must notify Amazon that it paid for fake reviews, violating the e-commerce giant’s terms of service, and must contact anyone who purchased the supplements to disclose the FTC’s findings.
Cure Encapsulations and its owner are also now barred from making “weight loss, appetite suppression, fat-blocking or disease treatment claims for any dietary supplement, food or drug unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence in the form of human clinical testing supporting the claims.” If the company does continue marketing products, it is prohibited from misrepresenting endorsements. Finally, the agency levied a $12.8 million judgment against the company, of which it will have to pay $50,000, with the remainder due if it is found to have misrepresented its financial situation.
“People rely on reviews when they’re shopping online,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “When a company buys fake reviews to inflate its Amazon ratings, it hurts both shoppers and companies that play by the rules.”
Amazon’s fake-review problem has been widely known for years: The company banned incentivized reviews in October 2016 and has since shut down accounts suspected of abusing the system and even sued websites and individuals for selling fraudulent reviews online. Still, the issue has persisted, according to review audit sites like ReviewMeta and FakeSpot.
“We welcome the FTC’s work in this area,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. “Amazon invests significant resources to protect the integrity of reviews in our store because we know customers value the insights and experiences shared by fellow shoppers. Even one inauthentic review is one too many. We have clear participation guidelines for both reviewers and selling partners and we suspend, ban and take legal action on those who violate our policies.”
Fake reviews are particularly rampant in high-margin categories like Bluetooth speakers and headphones, per the sites, but certain styles of shoes and accessories are targets, too. These categories will likely become even more competitive as an increasing number of shoppers turn to Amazon for fashion purchases.
Last year, a survey of several of the top Facebook groups showed that footwear had become a popular category for sellers looking to trade free or heavily discounted product for glowing reviews. For example, posts for knitted sneakers, LED kids’ shoes and platform stilettos have racked up dozens of comments from interested users, while many such items ultimately earned failing grades on more legitimate review websites.
Until now, federal regulators haven’t intervened to prevent the proliferation of fraudulent reviews, which can be used to promote dangerous products (the offending weight loss supplement has been associated with acute liver failure), counterfeits or poor-quality merchandise, but the FTC’s latest case should put unscrupulous sellers on watch.
Over the years, Amazon has had a strenuous relationship with some shoe brands, most notably Birkenstock, over alleged knockoffs on its platform. It made headlines in 2017 when Nike announced a trial partnership with the e-tail behemoth — a deal market watchers deemed an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” move on Nike’s part, after it too struggled to rein in unauthorized sales of its wares.
Just this month, Amazon admitted to its challenges with controlling the proliferation of counterfeit goods on its site. While the firm isn’t legally responsible for third-party counterfeits, it has said that it has zero-tolerance policy on fake items.
Only time will tell whether the FTC’s involvement marks a significant step toward Amazon building and maintaining a higher level of trust for both shoppers and sellers on the site.
If you are trying to lose weight, try the tarty and citrusy kokum fruit that is said to liven up any curry or dal. A favourite among the Konkans, it is majorly found in the Malabar regions of India. Regionally known as Sol Kadi, kokum is a delicious fruit that works as a natural weight loss aid and is fast becoming one of the favourites among health enthusiasts. Kokum also comes with a range of health benefits. The presence of vitamin C in it may help boost immunity; the garcinol it contains has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergenic properties. But what has brought kokum into the spotlight is the presence of hydroxyl citric acid (HCA) in it, which is said to shrink appetite and reduce fat in the body, further helping you lose weight, the healthy way. Let’s look at how kokum helps in losing weight and how to use it in your daily diet.
Kokum for weight loss | Kokum to lose weight and burn body fat
Kokum or the herb of garcinia cambogia is said to lead to significant loss in weight and in the fat accumulated in the body. Here are some reasons that make it great for weight loss.
Kokum is said to be great for your digestion, and is known to fight conditions like flatulence, acidity and constipation. A good digestive system is the key to lose weight efficiently.
It contains hydroxyl acid (HCA), which is known to be an appetite suppressant, further preventing you from cravings and untimely hunger pangs.
According to a study published in the Journal Nutrition, HCA is also attributed to not just weight loss, but also fat loss, thereby helping you stay healthy.
Inflammation in the body can cause conditions like obesity. The presence of an active compound called garcinol has anti-inflammatory properties that prevent inflammation in the body.
Kokum is known to reduce the conversion of food into fat. Therefore, the synthesis of fatty acids is inhibited to a great extent, thus preventing the build-up of fats in the body.
Kokum has the tendency to convert most calories in our body into glycogen.
The antioxidant vitamin C present in kokum prevents the growth of cell damaging free radicals in the body. Free radicals tend to cause oxidative stress, which further ups the chances of health conditions like diabetes and obesity.
How to use kokum to lose weight | How to use kokum for weight loss
Also a popular fruit among South Indians, kokum is generally available in powder form, and can be consumed by adding some water to it. If you have whole kokum, you can simply soak it in water overnight, extract the juice and store it for consumption for the next few days. You could also use kokum as a souring agent in most of your curries and dals and extract the benefits it has to offer.
Go on and enjoy the beautiful red and purple tarty fruit and lose weight, the healthy way. Make sure you consume a healthy and balanced diet and engage in exercises to stay fit.
PHP is a loosely typed language. It doesn’t care what types you throw around. Unless you want it to care.The language has come a long way in the last several years to bring in a robust type system, allowing developers to enforce types in both function parameters and what a function’s re...
The PHP development team announces the immediate availability of PHP 7.1.30. This is a security release.All PHP 7.1 users are encouraged to upgrade to this version.For source downloads of PHP 7.1.30 please visit our downloads page, Windows source and binaries can be found on windows.php.net/download...
In Episode 20
Eric, John, and Oscar are back talking about PHP, and the May 2019 issue.
Topics
John and Eric discuss Serverless PHP, Deploying ReactPHP Applications, Mysql 8.o, and more.
Oscar talks about using Composer with Magento and similar experiences with Drupal, network tunneling with n...
You may have seen a much-circulated story, allegedly posted on CNN’s website, in which a Cornell University student claims to have lost 37 pounds through a diet regimen consisting of apple cider vinegar and supplements of Garcinia cambogia, a type of tropical fruit.
If it is not immediately obvious to you, this is an internet ad for weight loss supplements, not a CNN story. The woman interviewed in the story doesn’t exist. Apple cider vinegar and Garcinia cambogia do not do what the ad claims they do, and can in fact be harmful when taken as suggested.
Everything about this ad is a lie. It lies about big things that could hurt people’s health and it lies about stupid little things like celebrity diets. It is a lie smothered in lies and served open-faced on a bed of lies. Let’s unpack this.
Claim: The story is from “CNN Nutrition”
Fact: A good way to tell where a story is from is to look at where the story is from. If I were to write, “This story you are reading on www.gov.uk represents official UK policy on phony diet ads,” you could look at the top of your browser and see that you are in fact on qz.com and I am lying. CNN’s URL is cnn.com, not independant-research.com, and that is not how “independent” is spelled.
Claim: “By Suzanne Pischner”
Fact: There is no Suzanne Pischner on LinkedIn or Twitter. Her byline appears only on other fishy-looking weight loss ads, including one purporting to be from TMZ posted under the URL trompe l’oeil tmzf.itness.co. Suzanne, if you are real and reading this, please send a notarized birth certificate to hi@qz.com.
Claim: “Amanda Haughman, a student at Cornell University, was able to drop 37lbs off her waist in 1 month without ever using a dime of her own money.”
This is not Amanda Haughman.
There is no Amanda Haughman in Cornell’s current student or alumni directories. In December, a nearly identical ad for a product called “Premiere Garcinia Cambogia” labeled a completely different woman’s photo as “Cornell student Amanda Haughman.” A lifestyle blogger pointed out that the photo was in fact of a Scottish woman named Seana Forbes, and was taken from a YouTube ad for a fitness app.
Claim: “Since the study, Amanda shared the TrimGenesis Garcinia and apple cider vinegar combination with her close friend, Mark, who had also been struggling with his weight.”
Yes, this is Mark, but not that Mark.
Fact: The image of the man identified as Mark was lifted from a 2015 story in the Daily Star, a UK daily tabloid, about a man named Mark Smithers. Here a pellet of truth is dropped in the rabbit hutch of lies: there is a Mark and he did lose weight. But he did not use this product and is not a close friend of Amanda, who is not real.
Claim: “We sat down with Amanda”
Fact: Amanda can’t sit. She has no lower extremities. She doesn’t exist.
Claim: “I was able to find a radio interview where [Melissa] McCarthy credited her entire weight loss to combining TrimGenesis Garcinia with apple cider vinegar.”
Right person, wrong dates.
Fact: The photo labeled “2016” is from 2015; the one labeled “2015” is from 2014. No such interview with McCarthy exists. In actual interviews, McCarthy has politely rebuffed repeated requests to talk about if or how she may have lost weight, for the same reason US speaker of the house Paul Ryan has never released his colonoscopy reports—it’s nobody’s business and it’s a kind of weird thing to ask about in the first place.
Claim: “TrimGenesis Garcinia contains the naturally occurring ingredient, hydroxycitcric acid, which boosts weight loss by blocking excess body fat production while increasing resting metabolism by more than 130%.”
This is where TrimGenesis’s claims go from absurd to potentially dangerous. Hydroxycitric acid (not “hydroxycitcric,” as above) is a type of citric acid found in many tropical plants, including Garcinia cambogia. In the world of unregulated supplements, “natural” is an often-abused term that has no bearing on how safe or effective a product is. Arsenic is naturally occurring. Mercury is naturally occurring. Nature makes a lot of stuff. Humans aren’t supposed to eat it all.
A 1998 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found no significant difference in weight loss between participants who took Garcinia cambogia and those who took a placebo. A 2011 meta-review in the Journal of Obesity found that while there was some evidence of short-term weight loss in patients using the supplement, those that took it were also twice as likely to have bad gastrointestinal side effects. Another 2013 review of 17 studies deemed Garcinia cambogia safe for human consumption, but concluded that its effect on weight loss was unclear.
The unproven benefits of Garcinia cambogia have not stopped assorted hucksters from pushing it as a weight loss wonder drug; television personality Mehmet Oz called it “a revolutionary fat buster” on a 2012 show.
“I don’t get why you need to say this stuff ‘cause you know it’s not true,” Claire McCaskill, a Democratic senator from Missouri, said at a 2014 Senate hearing on Oz’s false claims (quoted in this actual CNN story).
“I do personally believe in the items that I talk about on my show. I passionately study them,” Oz, a trained surgeon, responded. This is an acceptable defense for an amateur Bigfoot hunter, but not a scientist.
Claim: “TrimGenesis Garcinia with apple cider vinegar has been clinically proven to…”
Fact: Several claims follow; they are all bogus. There have been zero clinical studies on the effects of apple cider vinegar combined with Garcinia cambogia.
The ad never discusses the supposed benefits of drinking the apple cider vinegar, though here “Suzanne Pischner” may be relying readers’ previous familiarity with the subject. A long-time favorite of health food advocates, apple cider vinegar is increasingly popular as a home remedy for maladies including sore throats, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, acne, and jellyfish stings.
“There is ample scientific evidence” that vinegar does in fact help control blood sugar, if taken as one tablespoon diluted in a cup of water at the start of a meal, says Carol Johnston, a professor and associate director at Arizona State University’s School of Nutrition and Health Promotion. “The evidence on weight loss is meager but there are hints of this—particularly in the rat model,” she added. “If vinegar impacts body weight, it is very subtle and not what most have in mind when they start a weight loss trial.”
The active ingredient in apple cider vinegar that helps control blood sugar (and possibly weight) is acetic acid, which is found in all vinegar. And while drinking one to two teaspoons in water as recommended by Cornell/Harvard/MSU/National University of Singapore grad Amanda Haughman probably isn’t harmful to most people, it’s worth remembering that vinegar is an acid, and drinking acid straight can be dangerous.
Ultimately, the ad serves apple cider vinegar as a folksy side dish to a weight loss supplement that could have harmful side effects. The US Food and Drug Administration says weight loss supplements, including those purporting to contain Garciniacambogia, often contain undisclosed ingredients, including active drugs.
The danger of weight-loss related fake news is that—like their political counterparts—they make ridiculous claims that can distract from the fact that they are still lies masquerading as the truth, and could end up hurting someone.
In memory of Amanda Haughman (1995-2017), a victim of the Bowling Green Massacre.
