Amazon’s cringe-worthy blunder placed Prince Harry’s memoir Spare in the Women’s Biographies bestseller list.
This humiliating mix-up has raised eyebrows and questions about Amazon’s sloppy categorization.
- Amazon shuts down 75 fake review hubs in a sweep ⚡
- Crush the holidays with Walmart Marketplace 🎅
- Amazon’s Q2 revenue tops $167.7B 💵
- Launch your first UGC contest with ease ✨
- Get Looped In and take the chaos out of ecommerce accounting ✉️
BLACK MARKET
Amazon just pulled off its largest fake-review takedown ever—winning a court order to seize 75 domains tied to paid review schemes.
According to the World Lawyers Forum, these sites acted as brokers, pumping out glowing-but-fake reviews that misled shoppers and skewed competition.
📄 Not Amazon’s first rodeo
This is just the latest chapter in Amazon’s long-running war on fake reviews:
- Since 2015: Filing lawsuits against review brokers and shady networks worldwide.
- July 2024: Partnered with the Better Business Bureau to sue a North American review brokerage.
- June 2025: U.K.’s CMA forced Amazon to tighten monitoring and suspend sellers caught cheating.
And now, backed by the FTC’s new rule, fines of up to $51,744 per fake review are officially on the table. 🎉
📰 This is good news… and a warning
Every fake review is basically someone cutting the line, and Amazon just kicked a bunch of queue-jumpers to the curb.
With 250M+ suspected fakes blocked in 2024 alone, here’s what it means for you:
- Less noise from shady competitors puffing themselves up.
- Real reviews actually count for something again.
But heads up, Amazon’s watching closer than ever, so even “oops” violations could have you in the hot seat.
TOGETHER WITH WALMART MARKETPLACE
Sleigh the holiday season with Walmart Marketplace
Join Walmart Marketplace today and launch your storefront in time for peak holiday shoppers. And, as a new seller, you’re eligible to save up to $75,000 in New-Seller Savings, Walmart’s incentive program happening now.
Plus, let Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) handle your holiday fulfillment for you, be sure to add your products by September 15.
Don’t delay—the sooner you join, the sooner you’ll reach millions of loyal Walmart shoppers on Walmart.com.
Get up to $75,000 in New-Seller Savings*
*Conditions apply.
BITES OF THE WEEK
- Accessible Insights: Asda Xpert allows listed brands to access ecommerce-specific data analytics directly from the supermarket.
- Temu Joins Inta: Temu is now a corporate member of the International Trademark Association and its Anti-Counterfeiting Committee.
- Downloaded by Millions: TikTok reached 192M downloads worldwide as of 2025's second quarter, peak download was 313.5M in 2020.
- Highest Ever: eBay achieved $2.73 billion in Q2 revenue, and collectibles played a big part in it.
BIG IDEA
Amazon reports $167.7B Q2 revenue
Amazon’s Q2 numbers were better than Wall Street predicted, but the party didn’t last long. CNBC reported that shares fell over 7% after hours following weaker-than-expected Q3 income guidance. 😅
📊 The good numbers
- Revenue: $167.7B, up 13% from last year and above the expected $162.1B
- Earnings per share: $1.68, above the expected $1.33
- Seller services: $40.3B, up 11% from last year
- Ad revenue: $15.7B, up 23% from last year
- AWS revenue: $30.87B, up 18% from last year—still No. 1 in cloud.
Healthy core businesses, strong ad momentum, and FBA growth all point to a solid quarter for sellers.
☁️ The cloud that rained on the parade
Amazon’s Q3 operating income guidance of $15.5B–$20.5B fell short of the $19.48B analysts were hoping for.
Pair that with a $100B AI investment plan and slower AWS growth, and investors got jittery.
TL;DR: Sellers can expect stable FBA and more ad firepower while Amazon plays the long AI game.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
How to launch your brand’s first UGC contest
UGC contests deliver a triple win: authentic social proof, higher engagement, and low-cost content. Your audience does the creating; you get the brand love.
Stack Influence shared tips on how to launch one.
- Plan it 📝
- Pick 1–2 goals (awareness, reviews, content library)
- Choose your audience and platform
- Write clear rules (hashtag, how to enter, deadlines)
- Make it simple ✨
- One easy theme tied to your product
- Platform your customers already use
- Promote it 📣
- Announce everywhere (social, email, packaging inserts)
- Partner with micro-influencers for early buzz
- Re-share participant posts to build momentum
- Wrap it up 🏆
- Announce winners publicly
- Thank all participants
- Save and repurpose the content for ads, listings, and social posts
Pro Tip: Keep the barrier to entry low. The easier it is to join, the bigger your pool of content, and potential customers. 🚪
