R&D: software to detect fake/spammy customer reviews

With so many things out there, and so little time, we all rely on other people's reviews to make informed decisions on purchases. But as many of you who read tons of customer reviews may have noticed, some of them may feel (or even reek) as fake/spammy. How can you tell with more confidence? A research team at Cornell is doing research that has shown it can pin-point fake reviews better than humans can! Summary of the research at CNet News. For more details on the research, including the research paper itself, a 66-page slide presentation along with actual data in .edu's favorite .tar.gz format, check the research page of Ph.D student Myle Ott at Cornell who is leading the way. This is obviously a multidisciplinary study that also touches upon linguini and psychologics. But not geographics! (via Techmeme)