E-commerce sites must disclose paid reviews starting November 25.
Post Date – 11:53 PM, Tue – 11/22/22
Hyderabad: Positive word of mouth has been the path to business success in the past. In today’s digital world, it has been replaced by positive reviews. The more stars you get, the more authentic you are as a seller.
Since virtual shopping doesn’t give buyers the opportunity to inspect products in person, consumers rely on the opinions of others, making authentic reviews critical to safeguarding buyers’ interests.
But don’t we all know the business of fake, paid and misleading reviews? To curb such scrutiny, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) have issued guidelines.
Effective November 25, all e-commerce platforms that post reviews like Amazon, Zomato, Flipkart, etc. are now required to voluntarily disclose all paid reviews. Evaluating the compliance of these platforms is BIS.
We plan to enforce this if the threat of fake reviews continues, and once done, violations of these standards may be considered a violation of consumer rights.
Buy Shorts on YouTube Now
“See and buy” is the theme of social networking today. Months after Instagram added shopping, YouTube followed suit.
With the new update being tested in countries like India, influencers will have the option to tag their products on YouTube Shorts. In short, they can now monetize their content. TikTok also reportedly began testing its in-app shopping feature last week.
If current trends continue (which is likely), social media apps will cease to be a medium for connecting with people. It will be an e-commerce website with the look and feel of a web site.
Google Maps AR-Based Live View
In September, Google announced the launch of an augmented reality-based search with a live view of Maps. It’s now preparing to roll out the feature in select cities, which will help users navigate in real time using their phone’s camera.
All they have to do is enable the camera for the map and point in the direction they want to move. Live view mode will display arrows around them and point to landmarks.
It will also display other useful information such as whether said store/place/restaurant is open, busy hours, price range, reviews, etc.
Meta rolls out privacy update for teens
Tech group Meta is rolling out new updates on Facebook and Instagram to bolster teens’ privacy. People under 16, and in some countries 18, will now default to more private settings on Facebook. For teens who already use the app, Facebook will start sending reminders encouraging them to move to a more private setting.
A year ago, Instagram started forcing young users to make their accounts private by default when they signed up. Meta is also testing the option to delete messages from teens when they are viewed by recently blocked or reported suspicious adults.
