Shoppers today have more choice than any prior generation, all at their fingertips. Type a size and style, and thousands of results appear in seconds—a far cry from walking into a store with a curated inventory.
To help shoppers sort through the search results, Google and shopping websites put product reviews front and center. A dishwasher that earns a three-star rating averaged by 781 reviews is shown next to those that earn five stars based on three reviews.
But can you really trust those reviews?
The trouble with ‘real’ reviews
Consumer survey data from Kinsta found that more than 70 percent of shoppers have suspected a product review was fake or AI-generated. That skepticism exists even as the star rating, review count and comment stream keep signaling trust the way they always have.
While shoppers may doubt what they’re reading, they often buy anyway. Star Kashman, founding partner at Cyber Law Firm, warns consumers to be more choosy about which reviews to trust.
“Fake and incentivized reviews do not affect consumer trust as much as it likely should,” Kashman told Newsweek. “On marketplaces like Amazon where purchases can be cheap, impulsive and rapid, consumers can see a 4.8-star rating with thousands of reviews and make a decision to trust that product in seconds without investigating” their source.
Understanding the prevalence of fake or bought reviews matters, too. Beyond the odd AI-generated post, some retailers may be actively misleading buyers with an avalanche of fake reviews. Rebecca Wang, associate professor of marketing at Lehigh University, names the risk hiding in plain sight. “A fabricated review, one bought from a review farm where a seller can purchase hundreds or even thousands of glowing reviews, is obviously a serious, unethical and even illegal issue,” Wang told Newsweek.
“But even genuine reviews can become systematically skewed depending on how companies solicit them.”
What you don’t see decides what you buy
The order in which reviews show up can also impact how you view a product. While some platforms list reviews chronologically, others use algorithms based on shoppers’ search and viewing history. “The problem with algorithmic ordering is that most consumers are not going to read five pages of reviews,” Kashman explained. “If the first reviews they encounter are overwhelmingly positive, while newer complaints about defects or safety issues present in a new batch of lower quality product are buried deeper, consumers will walk away with a distorted impression of the product.”
How to trust a review
But don’t give up on reviews altogether. Kashman advises, slow down before hitting “buy.”
“Shoppers should not blindly trust online reviews,” Kashman said. “They should be checking multiple resources, doing their research, understanding the review platform’s vetting process and reliability.” She also recommends sorting reviews to see both positive and negative posts.
“Reviews are incredibly useful,” Wang added. “But consumers should look beyond the stars, the words and the pictures. Believe the reviews, but pay attention to the context.”
Newsweek‘s Most Trustworthy Companies 2026 ranking reveals the companies that have earned confidence from key audience. The ranking was developed in partnership with Statista.
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