Amazon's AI Tool Listed Products from Small Businesses Without Their Knowledge (msn.com)
- Reference: 0180565518
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/26/01/12/036215/amazons-ai-tool-listed-products-from-small-businesses-without-their-knowledge
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/ecommerce/amazon-ai-tool-blindsides-merchants-by-offering-products-without-their-knowledge/ar-AA1THtc2
Bloomberg notes that the listings "didn't always correspond to the correct product", leaving the stores to handle the complaints from angry customers:
> Between the Christmas and New Year holidays, small shop owners and artisans who had found their products listed on Amazon took to social media to compare notes and warn their peers... In interviews, six small shop owners said they found themselves unwittingly selling their products on Amazon's digital marketplace. Some, especially those who deliberately avoided Amazon, said they should have been asked for their consent. Others said it was ironic that Amazon was scouring the web for products with AI tools despite suing Perplexity AI Inc.for using similar technology to buy products on Amazon... Some retailers say the listings displayed the wrong product image or mistakenly showed wholesale pricing. Users of Shopify Inc.'s e-commerce tools said the system flagged Amazon's automated purchases as potentially fraudulent...
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> In a statement, Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay said sellers are free to opt out. Two Amazon initiatives — Shop Direct, which links out to make purchases on other retailers' sites, and Buy For Me, which duplicates listings and handles purchases without leaving Amazon — "are programs we're testing that help customers discover brands and products not currently sold in Amazon's store, while helping businessesâreach new customers and drive incremental sales," she said in an emailed statement. "We have received positive feedback on these programs." Tagay didn't say why the sellers were enrolled without notifying them. She added that the Buy For Me selection features more than 500,000 items, up from about 65,000 at launch in April.
The article includes quotes from the owners of affected businesses.
A one-person company complained that "If suddenly there were 100 orders, I couldn't necessarily manage. When someone takes your proprietary, copyrighted works, I should be asked about that. This is my business. It's not their business."
One business owner said "I just don't want my products on there... It's like if Airbnb showed up and tried to put your house on the market without your permission."
One business owner complained "When things started to go wrong, there was no system set up by Amazon to resolve it. It's just 'We set this up for you, you should be grateful, you fix it.'" One Amazon representative even suggested they try opening a $39-a-month Amazon seller account.
[1] https://www.msn.com/en-us/technology/ecommerce/amazon-ai-tool-blindsides-merchants-by-offering-products-without-their-knowledge/ar-AA1THtc2
Re: for fuck's sake (Score:2)
Guessing OP was sarcasm and if it wasn't.. Oof.
amazon screwed up! (Score:3)
as a customer mistreated by amazon, i would never shop there again. i can understand why sellers would be f*cking furious if their products were listed on amazon without their consent, particularly if their product descriptions were incorrect and generated complaints! that is defamation and should be addressed appropriately.
can they go any lower?
Hell no!!! (Score:3)
> n a statement, Amazon spokesperson Maxine Tagay said sellers are free to opt out.
That's like saying that victims of vandalism are "free to opt out" after they've been vandalized.. If a seller has no prior relationship with Amazon, then Amazon has no right to list their products unless Amazon purchases the products, takes physical possession of them, and re-sells them.
The fact that Amazon won't face ruinous fines for this is appalling. This is just one of far too many examples of the government and its legal system having been bought and paid for by the upper echelons of the parasite class. It's way past time for torches, pitchforks, and tar and feathers. American Revolution Mark II is looong overdue...
Because I can. (Score:2)
This is how sociopaths think. They ask questions like "Would this benefit me?" and "Am I big enough to get away with it?"
Thoughts like "is it ethical?" or "does it harm others?" or even "is it illegal?" Don't even enter their minds.
They just make up their own rules. "You cannot bot-around through our site, but we can and will bot-around through yours, and we can and will advertise your stuff on our site (incorrectly) sending you problems and expecting you to be grateful for that, and if you don't like i
Re: Hell no!!! (Score:2)
It's also completely tone deaf that a rep suggested opening an account. Uhm, no?
Restaurants forced on to delivery networks (Score:2)
Absolutely hated it and will fight it because they can't control the quality of the delivery drivers. There's been lots of cases of restaurants getting bad reviews online because the food was delivered late by a delivery driver that isn't employed by them..
I can see similar problems with this bullshit. Where Amazon acts as a third party intermediary causing all sorts of problems.
Opt out? (Score:2)
Basically LLMs business model is forcing people to opt out. Then ignoring them...
Re: (Score:2)
It's only fair we receive free products from Amazon without their knowledge.