If you are searching the web for some honest CLA supplement reviews, then my guide through the shady world of CLA reviews will be perfect for you.
Read it all the way through and you'll be surprised to find out that most positive CLA reviews are fake (as proven by modern science).
You'll also see where those fake reviews come from and why huge online stores like Amazon can't (or won't) do more to get rid of them.
And this isn't some crazy conspiracy theory I've come up with, to attract more people to my site.
I'll show you plenty of scientific research that proves my claims.
Fake CLA supplement reviews are a goldmine
According to Local Consumer Review Survey of 1,062 people, 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation.
Just think about this for a second.
A huge majority of people trust online reviews of a product as much as if their friends, coworkers, or their family recommended it to them.
So, what do you think happens if the reviews for any CLA supplement look like this?
You guessed it.
With lots of 5 star reviews to "prove" that their product is beyond awesome, the company (or the person) behind it is bound to make a killing.
Let's take a closer look at the single most common claim about CLA supplements:
CLA reviews sales machine
The one thing that thousands of positive CLA reviews have in common, is the claim that CLA can speed up weight loss.
Here's one example of a stellar CLA supplement review that probably helps brings in a ton of sales on its own.
(The fact that 800+ people found this a review helpful is a clear sign of how well it works.)
You've seen that most people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, but here's why reviews like this one work extremely well:
You don't need to spend years in the weight loss industry (like I did) to know that before and after photos are the ultimate sales machine.
>ou see, you can go on and on about the amazing benefits of your product...
You can even back all your claims up with lots of real science...
But without before and after photos, your sales will be minimal at best.
So let's take a look at what real science has to say about taking a CLA supplement for weight loss.
Do CLA supplements really work for weight loss
Here's what the lady (or someone using her photo) from the before and after picture wrote:
50 pounds of fat gone in less than 2 months! I'm a true believer, Naturewise have beyond exceptional products! I paired this with Garcia Cambogia and a good diet and exercise and the results have been unbelievable so far!
First of all, some simple math can tell you that losing 50 lbs of pure body fat in less than 2 months is damn near impossible, with or without cla.
(To lose 50 lbs of pure body fat in two months, you'd have to burn away almost 3,000 calories more than you eat every single day.)
Second of all, if you read through my science backed guide to CLA and weight loss...
You will quickly realize that this lady would need to be a professional athlete to actually pull this off.
(And btw, Garcinia Cambogia has also been proven NOT TO WORK for weight loss by modern science[1].)
Where do fake CLA supplement reviews come from?
You now know that if you wanted to make a killing selling CLA supplements on Amazon, you'd need lots of stellar reviews.
Now, there are lots of legit ways of getting those reviews that do not result in fake reviews.
(Most businesses rely on those, because you know, their product actually works.)
So, if you have an email list of everyone that bought your product and you ask them to write an honest review, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
But here, we'll focus on the more shady tactics that allow scammers to get plenty of positive reviews for products like CLA supplements.
Let's start with one of the easier ways, Facebook review exchange groups.
Facebook review exchange groups
Yep, getting a few stellar reviews for your product can be as easy as joining one of the review exchange groups on Facebook:
How do groups like these work?
Well, it's pretty simple.
First, you have to join the group. Then, after you're accepted, you have to find somebody who'd be willing to exchange reviews with you.
Usually, you then have to buy their product and in return, they'll buy yours.
After you become each other's "customers", you both write stellar reviews for the products.
Here's an example of this in action for Kindle books:
But there's another type of review exchanges going on.
Offering a discount in exchange for a review
Here's an example of a product manufacturer that offers a hefty discount (50%) in exchange for a review.
But wait, is offering 50% off as an incentive for somebody to write a review really that bad?
The problem with offering just about any kind of reward for a review automatically boosts the chances of getting a good review.
Why?
Because, if you give somebody a huge discount for a product or a service, they'll feel "indebted" to you.
They'll automatically want to give you a good review and avoid mentioning negative stuff about your product.
(You'll see that Amazon agrees with me in a bit.)
Here's where this becomes an even bigger problem:
Offering a free product for a review
Take a look at this example of a free product offer in exchange for a review:
Now, maybe you care a lot more about CLA reviews than about oil sprayers, but you still get the idea.
If you don't have to spend a dime on the product, of course you're going to feel like you "owe" a review to the person who gave it to you.
And of course you're going to want to give a good review and try to keep any negative stuff to yourself.
Like I said, Amazon agrees with me that getting a review in any of these shady ways can result in countless fake reviews.
Why aren't online sellers like Amazon stopping fake reviews?
Well, it's not that online retailers like Amazon don't care about fake reviews.
If too many Amazon's customers buy crappy products (based on fake product reviews), they'll start trusting Amazon less and less.
Naturally, this could hurt Amazon's bottom line, which is why Amazon does talk about reviews in their terms and conditions (they refer to the reviews as "content"):
In other words, Amazon forbids you to:
- post reviews of your own product
- post reviews of a product sold by your friends, relatives, or employer
- post (negative) reviews of a product your competitor is selling
- ask for a review in exchange for any kind of compensation (a free product, a discount, or any other kind of "favor")
But is this enough to get rid of the fake reviews Amazon?
Not really, because...
The #1 reason why Amazon can't weed out fake reviews
Amazon owes a huge part of its success to the fact that they allow anyone (yes, even people like you and me) to sell just about any product online.
Because of this, Amazon currently carries hundreds and millions of products in thousands of different categories.
Out of all those products, some of the more popular ones have thousands of different reviews written about them.
So no matter how determined Amazon may be to weed out fake reviews, it's simply impossible to expect they could actually fact-check each and every single review.
Which brings us right to...
The #1 reason why Amazon won't weed out fake reviews
As you saw, Amazon clearly states they're are against fake reviews.
But if we take CLA supplement reviews, for example:
What do you think would happen if Amazon really removed all the reviews that have been proven to be false by modern science?
Without so many stellar reviews boosting the sales of CLA supplement "Best Sellers" Amazon would most probably have to face a huge sales drop.
Because of this simple fact, Amazon may not be all that eager to 100% wipe out false reviews after all.
But how can you separate between false and real CLA supplement reviews?
How to recognize fake supplement reviews?
Well, unless you know how to do your own research, it can be tough to separate between real and fake supplement reviews.
As you saw, it's not just relatively easy to come up with fake reviews.
But some well-meaning people actually believe that it was the CLA supplement that worked for them. That's in spite the fact that science says it was far more likely that dieting or exercising did the job.
So no matter how hard you, me, or even Amazon try, we might not be able to separate fake reviews from real ones.
That's unless you...
Summary (actionable takeaways)
Always compare the claims made in online reviews with science-based guides like the one you're reading now.
Because the best antidote for fake supplement reviews is real science.
I, for one, intend to keep publishing the truth, even though I might make far less money that somebody who makes millions selling stuff that doesn't really work.
If you're interested in learning more about CLA, then you'll be glad to know that I have a much bigger guide to CLA (you can find a lot more information there).
Written by Rok Sprogar, CNC, WLS
Rok Sprogar is a NASM Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC) and a NASM Certified Weight Loss Specialist (NASM-WLS) who has been contributing highly actionable and science-based content to Leanhigh.