Really Amazon just has to overhaul their ratings system.

That ads are fine, it's not difficult to see what is labeled "sponsored".

What isn't fine is the hardcore gamification of reviews.

If reviews are fixed and you want to pay to advertise your 2-star hand mixer? Sure, but you are probably just paying to show off that you suck.

My favorite is when I leave a one/two star review, and the (always Chinese) merchant writes me, offering anywhere from $50 to a full refund if I change my review to 5 stars.

I do. I like money. Amazon doesn't seem to care when I report them.

And once the money clears my account, I change the review back. I have one on my desktop right now, awaiting a $50 gift card. I mean, I still care about people reading the reviews. They aren't completely immoral liars, like the company writing me.