These days, online shopping can feel a bit like avoiding banana peels in a game of Mario Kart . Where a simple Google search may have once been enough to find the perfect T-shirt, moisturiser or backpack, now, you’ve got to wade through a lot of slop to find a fit. Google has become flooded with paid ads and suggestions for websites that have been maximised for their search engine ranking (SEO).
Product reviews, which are increasingly common, aren’t always genuine. In December last year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) reviewed 130 online businesses and found that more than one-third of reviews (including those on company websites and from third-party review sites) were misleading. As trust in search engines such as Google and brands themselves slowly erodes, consumers are turning to online communities, such as Reddit, for what they perceive to be more straightforward, reputable advice.
These communities are bursting with advice from savvy shoppers. Credit: Stephen Kiprillis How did we get here? Dr Adrian Camilleri, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Technology, says that Google is still the primary search engine in Australia. But he says consumers are becoming increasingly wary of the prevalence of paid ads and fraudulent reviews, while cultural and technological shifts over the past decade have seen the rise of social media and influencer marketing.
“More and more, consumers – especially those who are younger – are l.
