The e-commerce giant places the ‘Choice’ brand on some items that have security problems or that may not be as recommended as it seems

‘Amazon Choice’ is, by definition, a highly qualified product by the e-commerce company of Jeff Bezos, either because it has a good price, because it is available to be sent immediately or because its staff recommends it. However, Amazon is placing that label on products that, as defined by the company itself, should not have it. And that label is not what it seems.

An investigation by the Wall Street Journal reveals a practice that, at least, is suspicious by the internet shopping giant. Amazon grants that ‘Choice’ label to products that make false claims, could have been tampered with or have non-recommended components. In short, they put the ‘Choice’ brand on items that violate their own policies.

One of the examples is the ‘Redline Microburst’ energy supplement. It is a product called “fat burner”, but it has received the label of ‘Choice’ despite the fact that Amazon’s own rules prohibit the sale of such products. The same has happened with many other products: some contained Viagra, a medication that needs a prescription to be dispensed; others claimed to carry the Apple seal, although they were not certified by the apple company; And so, long etcetera.

The fault is the algorithm

An Amazon spokeswoman has acknowledged to the WSJ the mistakes made, but says that the fault lies with the algorithm that the company uses to grant those labels. Its version is that this algorithm takes into account the popularity of the product, its availability, customer comments, price and other factors. And all those products reported by the American newspaper have been eliminated, although the company was not able to identify its error before.

The word ‘Choice’ is not chosen at random. It means ‘choice’ and Amazon preferred it instead of ‘recommends’ so that a recommendation on those products would not be implied. However, many people rely on buying that seal of alleged quality to opt for one of those products to the detriment of others of similar characteristics.

Some sellers recognize the WSJ the importance of having that label since it can mean an increase in sales of more than 25%. That is why many companies put themselves in the hands of e-commerce specialists in the hope of getting that seal that can guarantee them increased sales… Even if it is in exchange for falsifying comments or carrying out other unethical practices.