Over in the General section of this board, somebody mentioned how we have many products listed on the site that are the same thing but in different colors. The question is in regard to whether or not is is right (or ethical, if you want to get into it) to post the same core review several times and just change the wording in regard to the color.

I brought up the idea of mp3 players and how they come in different colors and capacities, though the functionality is the same. Could you take a review of a white ipod nano and post the same review under a black ipod nano and just change a few lines about the color?

Check out this thread for more: http://www.epinions.com/msg/show_~threads/cat_id_~121/id_~6619/forum_id_~441

In the interest of the shortest answer possible, I didn't check the link, so here are my thoughts. If it is a different capacity (using an mp3 player as an example) then sure, I can the same cores being less problematic, but the bottom line (for me) is this, that is patently misleading as one product may have problems another product might not, even if the core functionality may be the same. As far as different colors, no, thats hit harvesting.

jm2c

The real issue here is that there are multiple listings for the different colors. The reason for this is that the vast majority of listings come in from the merchant feeds.

There are some significant advantages of having the listings created this way. First, the listings are created from actual products that merchants are trying to sell, and thus Epinions can make money from if consumers click through and buy the item. This also means more Income Share for us, the people who write the reviews. The merchant feed listings also automatically link up with various merchants that offer the item. The second major advantage is that it is probably the only way to create listings that is cost effective. It would take a small army of relatively skilled full-time people to create all those listings, and that would cost way too much money.

There are also several disadvantages. Older products (which Epinions is unlikely to make money from anyway, remember, this is a business) will often not be listed. Epinions has created a way to deal with this, through the SAP program. The second problem is there will be multiple listings of some products, including the listings for different colors of the same item. This is because the merchants have them listed separately, as if you wanted a white iPod and received a black one you might not be very happy.

So just fix all the multiple listings, right? Again, this is a matter of time and money. If businesses don't make money, their time is up. Epinions does make an effort to fix database problems, but they must be handled on a highest priority basis, as a limited number of people are available to work on these issues.

As to the issue of posting reviews on different colors of the same item and changing the minimum number of words, I am kind of in the middle. I would not do it personally. However, it is within the rules of the site. Is it taking advantage of the system? Probably. If it was a very good review, would it help someone who only looks at reviews for only one of the colors? Probably. Will members think that you are lazy and taking advantage of the system if you do this? Some will, some won't. Is the white iPod going to function differently than the black one? No.

So, overall, I would say this one is a gray area, and up to the discretion of the individual rater. If you feel that the nearly duplicate reviews are Not Helpful, rate accordingly. If the reviews are more than 100 words different and you believe that either review would be Very Helpful to a consumer, again, rate accordingly.

-Jon

1. In answer to your very specific question – the situation you described violates Epinions’ rules:

“The question is in regard to whether or not is is right (or ethical, if you want to get into it) to post the same core review several times and just change the wording in regard to the color.”

According to Epinions this would violate their rules because the review must compare the white to the black and each review must have at least a 100 words difference. The rule only allows for the comparison of two products not three or more.

Publishing the same review more than once. A review may only be published more than once if the review compares two products and there is at least a 100 word difference between the two reviews. http://www.epinions.com/help/faq/?show=faq_submissions

2. If the two reviews conform to Epinions rules --- you write one review of the white nano and compare it to the black nano, then post it under both reviews; each review must have at least 100 different words. Now you would probably want to know if I considered this ethical.

I would consider it ethical if the word difference contained new information that was relevant and useful to the consumer. I would rate the first review on its merits and the second review based on the value/merit of the new information.

In the case of the white/black ipod nano it would be difficult for there to be enough unique and useful information and user experience for both reviews to receive a VH rating. Had you had very different user experiences with both products, and detailed the different experiences and results it would be possible for both to receive VH ratings, but very rare.

If you just used a thesaurus to change words with out adding new content, then No, I would not consider it Ethical. I would rate the first review on its merits and the second review I would probably give an SH rating, if you only swapped out words; however if this became a regular practice, I would seriously consider giving the duplicate content review an NH.

3. Historical perspective, quite a while back the electronics category had an influx of reviews that were questionable, people coming into the category trying to game the system, etc. The greatest majority of the members who have consistently written in the Electronics category have worked very hard to clean the category up and make it a credible and a valuable source of information.

Posting what is essentially the same review twice to garner extra hits and additional income share under the pretext/justification of “assisting coverage” is not only unethical but would be extremely destructive to the category, Epinions as a credible source of information, and to the morale of all the excellent and ethical writers who post in our category.

well. there you are. thank you sir.