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Fake news, fake reviews

Amazon are attempting to stop fake product feedback by imposing a limit on the number of reviews shoppers are allowed to leave.

I suppose fake news has been reported as fact for decades. No-one can be too surprised that people try to leverage reviews for their own ends. Or that fake Facebook news may have influenced recent political opinion.

But there is a big difference between fake news on the Internet and in the old days of print news. The volume of online bloggers and reviewers completely swamps traditional print journalism.

There is just so much information out there. If an article is well written and understandable, how can you tell what is fake and what isn't?

For example, if I told you that the Scotland football team were certain to qualify for the World Cup... well, ok, some things just can't be believed.

Read about the Amazon review limit…

Customer chat from Google listings

Google are testing out a new feature that allows searchers to initiate a chat with a company they find through a Google Search.

When they click on a company they are interested in, the Google My Business listing includes a new 'Message' button, which will send a message using SMS or Google's Allo app.

The timespan between message and response isn't 100% clear, but it would need to be pretty quick to be effective.

It's just a pilot project at the moment, but it might be a very useful facility for certain businesses (if it works!).

Find out more …

IoT killer app is NOT home security

The Internet of Things (IoT)is one of these things that comes along and everyone(?) reckons is going to be the Next Big Thing.

Plug any device into the Internet so you can do - exactly what?

Some have suggested that the IoT will allow us to make our homes more secure. Motion sensors, cameras, window and door trips and devices that read the license plates of passing cars - all controlled from and alarmed to your mobile device.

Trouble is, none of these things, including the Internet, are reliable enough yet.

The IoT reminds me a lot of how smartphones were in the late 90's - technology looking for a real use. No-one could really think of what they could use them for (apart from making a phone call). We know what happened.

I wonder how the IoT apps will evolve into something useful.

Read more …