WTF?! Amazon is restricting access to customer reviews for some shoppers after mistakenly identifying them as AI bots or data scrapers. Affected users can see just eight reviews per product, with the usual sorting and filtering tools removed. Anyone who wants to fix things must ask Amazon to restore full access and wait up to five business days for an email response.
Fast Company reports that the restrictions began appearing late last year. Amazon confirmed that safeguards designed to prevent unauthorized scraping can incorrectly target genuine customers, though it described the incidents as isolated.
"We understand there may have been isolated instances where customers were unable to access reviews, and we've worked to ensure access," a spokesperson said.
The tech giant declined to reveal how many people have been affected, what behavior triggers its detection system, when the restrictions started, or how appeals are assessed. It also hasn't published guidance for users accused of harvesting review data.
Longtime Prime subscriber Fred Hall discovered the block in mid-July while researching a dehumidifier. Hall regularly digs through reviews for details about individual features and checks low ratings for potential problems, but he found that Amazon would only let him see eight reviews for each product. A support agent told him he'd violated the company's conditions covering the gathering or extraction of community-generated content – something he called "ridiculous."
Amazon approved Hall's appeal several days later without explaining what caused the flag. He said he uses no AI browsing or automation tools and is now reconsidering his Prime membership.
Another shopper, Sean Kaufman, encountered the same eight-review limit across every product. He said he doesn't use a VPN, ad blocker, or AI browsing software, but often compares competing items and examines their reviews in depth. Amazon gave him a $10 promotional credit and promised to escalate the case within 24 hours. His access was eventually restored five days later.
Similar complaints have appeared on Reddit and Amazon's own forums. One forum user said the restriction followed them across multiple accounts and remained after clearing cookies, using incognito mode, and creating new browser profiles.
Limiting review access is especially problematic given the marketplace's long-running battle with fraudulent feedback. We previously saw how verified Amazon reviews can still be bought, despite the company's efforts to remove manipulated ratings.
The crackdown also comes amid Amazon's dispute with outside shopping agents. It was reported last November that the retailer accused Perplexity's Comet browser of disguising automated shopping activity as human behavior. Amazon later sued and won a preliminary injunction blocking the tool from its platform. Amazon never said whether that fight is connected to the review restrictions.