Amazon Review Crackdown: Choetech, RAVPower, Aukey, Mpow, Taotronics & Fairywill all get the boot

If you have been looking to buy some cheap Chinese electronics on Amazon lately, you may have noticed that some of the more popular brands are no longer there.

So far, this list includes:

• Aukey – Chargers, cables, earphones
• Choetech – Chargers, Cables, Hubs
• Fairywill – Toothbrushes
• Mpow – Headphones / TWS Earbuds
• RAVPower – Powebanks, Chargers, Hubs
• Taotronics – Sub-brand of RAVPower selling earphones and a decent tri-band mesh system
• VAVA – Sub-brand of RAVPower selling dashcams, TVs, and baby cams

Other brands reported to be banned:

• AMZDeal
• Apeman
• Atoko
• Homasy
• Homfa
• Homitt
• HOMTECH
• HooToo
• Letscom
• Letsfit
• LITOM
• Mpow
• OKMEE
• OMORC
• Seneo
• Tacklife
• TopElek
• TRODEEM
• VictSing
• Vtin

I am sure there are more, but the above list represents some very popular brands.

The reason for removal isn’t 100% clear for all the brands but it seems very likely they have all been caught up with Amazon’s recent June blog post about creating a trustworthy reviews experience.

Amazon has been under pressure to stop the deluge of fake reviews recently, with both Amazon and Google being probed by the Competition and Markets Authority over the issue.

It looks like in the past, Amazon mainly targeted removing the fake reviews themselves and taking down the groups involved with generating the reviews. In the first three months of this year, Amazon reported more than 1,000 such groups, with social media services taking a median time of five days to take them down. In 2020, they stopped more than 200 million suspected fake reviews before they were ever seen by a customer.

However, with the pressure mounting from the media and the CMA, it looks like Amazon are starting to aggressively target the companies that they believe use these review schemes.

Amazon appears to be targeting companies that use cards insides orders that incentive a review, such as offering refunds or gift cards. It is this technique that has landed RAVPower with a ban. RAVPower also confirmed that three of its brands (incl. Taotronics and VAVA) were suspended from Amazon, affecting 31% of the company’s revenue

With Amazon being so dominant for online sales and so reliant on reviews with its algorithms, many companies need good reviews to get sales. This then means you are competing with brands buying fake reviews, so are forced into doing the same yourself.

In particular, this seems to affect the highly competitive and saturated market of affordable electronics such as earphones, chargers, hubs etc. Anything that has small margins and needs a huge amount of sales to succeed.

Sadly, all of the brands that have been removed from Amazon make superb products. I have reviewed many devices from all but Vava, and I can honestly say they are good products. So it is not like they were conning people into buying bad products. They were just caught up in Amazons impossibly competitive marketplace.

James Smythe( Editor-in-chief )

I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.

As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.

In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.

I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.