Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and politicians to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said on Monday that it blocked more than 10 billion suspect listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold.
The numbers were released in Amazon's first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technology in 2019. The number of blocked listings of suspected fakes was up about 67 per cent last year on the year before.
The Seattle-based e-commerce company said the number of counterfeiters attempting to sell on the site rose as they tried to take advantage of shoppers who were buying more online during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Amazon has been wrestling with counterfeits for years. However, since 2019 it has warned investors in government filings that the sale of fake goods poses a risk to the company and its image.
Brands may not want to sell their items on the site if they know there are fake versions being offered. And knock-offs could cause shoppers to lose their trust in Amazon.
Counterfeiters try to sell their products on Amazon through its third-party marketplace, where sellers can list their items directly on the site.
The company destroyed 2 million counterfeit products sent to its warehouses last year before they could be sold. It said fewer than 0.01 per cent of all items bought on the site received counterfeit complaints from shoppers.
Amazon said it can stop counterfeiters before they can sell anything thanks to machine-learning technology, which automatically scans listings to remove suspected counterfeits.
The company also gives brands a way to remove fake items from the site themselves, rather than reporting them to Amazon and waiting for it to do something.
The company's efforts comes as politicians are looking at ways to reduce counterfeit products online.
In the US, Republican senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Democratic senator Dick Durbin of Illinois reintroduced the Inform Consumers Act this year. This would require third-party sellers to be verified and disclose their name and address to shoppers. The bill was introduced last year, but was not voted on.
Amazon and smaller online shops such as eBay and Etsy oppose the bill, expressing concerns it could discourage people from starting a small business and selling online. But groups that represent big-box physical retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe's support it because they say it levels the playing field, since physical retailers already make sure their shelves are free of fakes.
Amazon said it spent more than $700 million last year on its anti-counterfeiting efforts and has 10,000 people working on it.
The company has also been filing joint lawsuits with brands, including one earlier this year with Salvatore Ferragamo against counterfeiters who were selling knock-offs of the high-end brand's belts on the site.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
