Tech Tok: A step towards curbing fake reviews

E-commerce sites have to disclose paid reviews from Nov 25.

Hyderabad: Positive word of mouth has been the route to successful businesses in the past. In today’s digital world, it has been replaced by positive reviews. Higher the number of stars you get, the more authentic a seller you are.

As virtual shopping does not give buyers the chance to physically examine the product, consumers rely on the opinions of others, which makes having genuine reviews vital to safeguard buyers’ interests.

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But don’t we all know about the business of fake, paid and misleading reviews? In an attempt to curb such reviews, the Department of Consumer Affairs and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has released guidelines.

All e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Zomato, Flipkart and others that publish reviews will now have to voluntarily disclose all paid reviews starting November 25. Assessing the compliance of these platforms is BIS.

If the menace of fake reviews continues, there are plans to make this mandatory and when done, the violation of these standards may be considered a violation of consumer rights.

Now, shop on YouTube shorts

‘If you see it, you can buy it’ looks like the theme of social networking platforms these days. Months after Instagram added the shopping feature, YouTube is following suit.

With the new update that is being tested in countries, including India, influencers will be given the option to tag their products on YouTube Shorts. Simply put, they will now be able to monetise through their content. According to reports, TikTok also started to test its in-app shopping feature last week.

If the current trend persists, which is likely, social media apps will no longer be the medium to connect with people. It will be an e-commerce website with the façade of a networking site.

AR-based Live View for Google Maps

In September, Google announced an augmented reality-based Live View search for Maps. It is now ready to roll out the feature in select cities, which will help users navigate using their phone camera in real time.

All they will have to do is enable the camera for Maps and point in the direction they want to move. The Live View mode will show arrows in their surroundings and point towards the landmarks.

It will also show other useful information such as whether a said store/venue/restaurant is open or not, busy hours, price range, reviews and others.

Meta launches privacy updates for teens

Technology conglomerate Meta is rolling out new updates on Facebook and Instagram for the heightened privacy of teenagers. Those below 16, and in some countries 18, will now be defaulted into more private settings on Facebook. For teenagers who are already on the app, Facebook will start sending alerts encouraging them to shift to more private settings.

A year ago, Instagram started to default young users’ accounts as mandatory private accounts when they sign up. Meta is also testing removing the message option for teenagers when they’re being viewed by suspicious adults, who were blocked or reported recently.