Through the @cosme pledge, we aim to operate a high-minded and ethical website that offers peace of mind for its users. To that end, we pursue a range of initiatives to make that a reality Given that reviews and posts are made to the website through the free will and opinion of the user, we aim to respect those intentions to the fullest.
What are review rankings?
@cosme's review rankings do not merely aggregate information as-is.
Rather, the rankings make use of the number of posts and recommendation level of a product to employ a proprietary algorithm that @cosme uses to assign member confidence levels and then tabulate data based on these vectors. This allows us to achieve a fair rankings system that excludes artificial posts designed to manipulate the rankings. We also continuously review and revise our data aggregation methods.
Reviews x degree of recommendation
The system calculates the number of reviews posted by members and the deviation in terms of recommendation level.
Member confidence level
Since each member's confidence level differs, the same recommendation level may affect the rankings differently.
@cosme's proprietary aggregation method
We finally aggregate the data using multiple factors to eliminate posts deliberately made to manipulate the rankings and achieve a higher fidelity of review ratings.
Fair rankings
Efforts related to reviews
1. 24 hour, 365 day-a-year monitoring of posts
@cosme monitors all posts made to the site 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in order to maintain its integrity. We have a system and task force in place to rapidly respond to posts requiring an urgent response or that violate our guidelines. We also administer periodic tests to detect fraudulent reviews.
2. All reviews list whether the product was purchased by the member, or whether they received it as a gift or as a sample
In order to clarify how a user obtained a product they are reviewing, posts require that the user select whether the product was purchased or received as a gift or as part of a pilot, as well as the source providing the product, in the latter case. This allows users of the site to see at a glance whether a product was purchased by the reviewer or whether they received it from elsewhere, and this information can be used when considering a future purchase.
3. All posts contain a "Report" button
All posts contain a "Report" button that allows for reporting the member as violating the @cosme General Terms and Conditions. Reported members are subject to warnings, deletion of an account, or removal of the offending post, among other disciplinary measures.
If you find a post that you feel violates any of our guidelines, we encourage you to use the Report button.
4. Personal identification through mobile telephone numbers
Personal identification is performed through the use of mobile telephone numbers in order to verify the authenticity of the member. Members with an icon listing them as verified are those who have been authenticated and certified per @cosme's standards. Furthermore, reviews made by verified members feature a "verified" icon next to their name.
Response to services and operators
encouraging fraudulent use of the site
We recognize that there are parties who make posts that are unsuitable for @cosme or that violate our guidelines and policies, or fraudulent activity masquerading as consumer activity intended to manipulate the rankings. (Fraudulent activity here refers to arbitrarily dictating consumer behavior or falsifying ratings and rankings.)
At the same time, the exchange of goods or monies (or equivalent compensation) for posting reviews, or instructing posters on what to post in a review, is a violation of @cosme's policies and is expressly forbidden. If is said conduct is found, we will take disciplinary measures that include but are not limited to deleting the review in question, deleting the member's account, and/or those measures listed below.
- As soon as unauthorized conduct is detected, we warn the operator or service and take necessary measures through consultation with our attorneys.
- As soon as unauthorized conduct is detected, measures are taken, such as stopping the display of the product on the rankings.
The Consumer Affairs Agency has published guidelines stating that malicious or manipulative posts on review sites or hiring third parties to post on one's behalf would be, if they cause the consumer to mistakenly believe the product or service in question is better or superior to that offered by a competitors' product or one not advertised in said way, considered unlawful representation per the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.