Amazon Anti-Scraping System Limits Legitimate Users to Eight Reviews per Product
Amazon's anti-scraping mechanism has mistakenly flagged legitimate consumers, limiting some users to viewing only eight reviews per product and removing sorting and filtering functions. Affected users must submit appeals and wait up to five business days for email review results. Amazon declined to disclose the number of affected users, triggering behaviors, restriction start times, or appeal criteria, and issued no official guidance. Some users regained access after appeals, though delays have prompted long-term subscribers to consider canceling Prime. Amazon previously secured court injunctions against AI companies over automated shopping tools.
Amazon's anti-scraping mechanism has recently misidentified legitimate users, restricting some consumers from browsing product reviews. Users flagged by the system reported that they could view only eight reviews per product, and the sorting and filtering functions normally available on the page had been removed. To restore full access, users must submit an appeal to Amazon and wait up to five business days for the outcome of an email-based review. Amazon declined to disclose the number of affected users, the specific actions that triggered the risk interception, when the restrictions began, or the criteria used to evaluate appeals. The company also issued no official guidance for users mistakenly identified as data scrapers. Affected users said they had not used any AI browsing tools, automated software, proxy networks, or ad blockers, and that the system determined their behavior violated rules on extracting community-generated content. Some users eventually regained access after submitting appeals, but the process was slow, and long-term subscribers have said they are considering canceling their Prime memberships as a result. Amazon previously filed lawsuits against artificial intelligence companies over automated shopping tools and secured court injunctions.