Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission Releases Investigation Results: 23% of Third-Party Review Videos Contain Misleading Information

People’s Financial News, March 15 — Third-party evaluations on live streaming short video platforms are gradually becoming an important reference for consumers making purchasing decisions. However, with the development of the traffic economy, some third-party evaluation content has gradually deviated from its original purpose, with issues such as false reviews and misleading interpretations emerging frequently. These problems not only disrupt the normal market order but also cause consumers to fall into an information fog, harming their legitimate rights and interests. In response to this issue, the Shanghai Consumer Protection Committee, in cooperation with the Shanghai Institute of Quality Supervision and Inspection Technology Co., Ltd., conducted a special investigation into third-party evaluations on live streaming short videos. The survey tracked 50 mainstream platform accounts for no less than three months, recording 411 evaluation videos. A random sample of 150 videos was analyzed, revealing that 35 videos, or 23%, contained misleading information and other issues. By reviewing these problematic videos, the investigation delved into their commercial motives and evaluation techniques, providing an important basis for the standardized development of the third-party evaluation industry. The survey found that the chaos in problematic third-party evaluation videos mainly falls into three major categories, each with typical patterns. Some content creators, driven by traffic or commercial interests, mislead consumers through false interpretations, unscientific testing, and subjective bias.