{
  "id": 87668,
  "title": "Amazon’s fight against data-scraping bots is hiding reviews from real users",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/amazons-fight-against-data-scraping-bots-is-hiding-reviews-from-real",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-03T14:20:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Android Authority",
    "slug": "android-authority",
    "url": "https://www.androidauthority.com/amazon-user-reviews-ai-bots-data-scraping-3693844/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Amazon has disclosed that it is identifying legitimate users as bots, as part of its ongoing battle against AI crawlers which scrape the web for product reviews. A company spokesperson confirmed that there were instances where users were unable to access reviews, which were subsequently restored. This issue may become more prevalent among online retailers as they seek methods to curb extensive data scraping. When purchasing goods online, consumers typically turn to the reviews section to gauge others' experiences. Products with hundreds of reviews can significantly influence purchasing decisions. However, retailers must also address AI crawlers that scrape online data. Amazon has now acknowledged that its actions to limit the visibility of product reviews are inadvertently impacting genuine human customers. The concern is not entirely new for some Amazon shoppers, with a Reddit thread from November last year and a seller complaint on Amazon’s support page from February highlighting difficulties in viewing numerous reviews. One individual had to wait five business days to access more reviews of a product after submitting a request.",
  "summary": "Unable to see more than a few reviews for a product on Amazon? You’re not alone.",
  "key_points": [
    "Amazon identifies legitimate users as bots to combat AI crawlers.",
    "Review visibility issues affect genuine human customers.",
    "Problem may worsen as online retailers combat data scraping."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Amazon's efforts to block AI crawlers from scraping product reviews are mistakenly blocking real users, potentially altering how they make purchasing decisions on the platform.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}