Amazon has been taking strides to keep people from posting fake reviews on its site.

But according to a report from ReviewMeta, which uses an algorithm and statistical modeling to measure the validity of online reviews, less trustworthy or “unnatural” reviews have been showing up for products sold on Amazon since June. As reported by Forbes, Amazon has banned most products with “incentivized reviews,” meaning reviewers write about products that have been given to them for free.

Of course, it's a problem that plagues not just Amazon, but many e-commerce companies. So how can you tell which online reviews are honest? Do you still take stock in online reviews, and if not, how do you decide on what to buy?

Guest:

Spencer Soper, Seattle-based e-commerce reporter at Bloomberg; one of the companies he reports closely on is Amazon