> The new one-tap feature asks customers to select from one to five stars for a product. It’s only available to customers who have actually purchased the item from Amazon — “verified” buyers. That barrier alone creates one hurdle that will make the new rating system harder to game, since Amazon does allow written reviews from non-verified buyers.

I understand that Amazon allows non-verified buyers to leave a review, so they can have more product reviews but those non-verified reviews are the source of so much garbage.

Sure, let people post non-verified reviews, so you look like you have a lot of reviews but at least let me filter them out in my search.

Filter: 4+ stars from only verified reviews.

Hell, even 3+ stars from verified reviews would be helpful.

I know sellers can fake verified reviews by paying the consumer back for the product but that's a massively higher barrier for the manufacturer. The difference is a few cents per review VS a few dollars per review.

I've seen products with thousands of fake non-verified reviews. I'm pretty sure they couldn't afford to do the same with verified reviews.