Tag: supplement
How Honkai: Star Rail Is Using AI Technology to Supplement Development
Meet Madmonq, the food supplement designed to keep you at the top of your game
FTC fines supplement maker $600,000 for ‘review hijacking’ Amazon listings
For the first time, the US Federal Trade Commission has fined an organization for “review hijacking.” In February, the agency accused The Bountiful Company, maker of the Nature’s Bounty brand of vitamins, of deceiving consumers. Between 2020 and 2021, Bountiful abused a feature of Amazon to make it seem like some of its newer supplements had higher product reviews and ratings than they did in reality.
If you have ever bought something on Amazon, you’ve almost certainly interacted with the feature Bountiful attempted to game. Some listings include a set of icons that highlight different “variations” of that same product. For example, if you visit the page for Sony’s popular WH-1000XM5, the feature will highlight that the headphones are available in three different colors. By design, Amazon designed this feature to be narrow. Sellers are supposed to use it to showcase that a product they offer is available in a different color, size, quantity or flavor.
That’s not what The Bountiful Company did. According to the FTC, Bountiful used the feature to give newer products a boost from older, more well-established ones with different formulations. In one internal email the agency obtained, Bountiful lamented that “people did not love” one of its new vitamins but noted sales “spiked the second we variated the pages and they continue to grow.”
On Monday, the FTC said it voted unanimously to approve a consent order that carries a $600,000 fine for Bountiful and bars the company from employing such tactics in the future. “Boosting your products by hijacking another product’s ratings or reviews is a relatively new tactic, but is still plain old false advertising,” said Samuel Levine, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
“There’s no place for fraud in Amazon’s store. We have proactive measures in place to prevent listing abuse and we continuously monitor our store,” an Amazon spokesperson told Engadget. “Our policies prohibit reviews abuse including offering incentives like gift cards to write positive reviews. We suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies and remove inauthentic reviews.”
According to Amazon, “more than 99 percent” of the products people view on its marketplace “contain only authentic reviews.” If you find what you think is a fake review, the company recommends tapping the “Report” button so it can investigate and take action. The spokesperson added Amazon would continue working with FTC and other enforcement agencies to combat fraudsters.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ftc-fines-supplement-maker-600000-for-review-hijacking-amazon-listings-210142185.html?src=rss
FTC orders supplement maker to pay $600K in first case involving hijacked Amazon reviews
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has approved a final consent order in its first-ever enforcement action over a case involving “review hijacking,” or when a marketer steals consumer reviews of another product to boost the sales of its own. In this case, the FTC has ordered supplements retailer The Bountiful Company, the maker of Nature’s […]
FTC orders supplement maker to pay $600K in first case involving hijacked Amazon reviews by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch
Ex-Acne Sufferer Secures Double-Dragon Investment For Her Plant-Based Supplement Brand
Botanycl’s range includes SkinClear Elixir hailed by customers as a ‘miracle’ and a ‘game changer’ for clearing up problem skin…
The post Ex-Acne Sufferer Secures Double-Dragon Investment For Her Plant-Based Supplement Brand appeared first on TechRound.
Levi’s will ‘supplement’ human models with AI-generated fakes
Levi’s is partnering with an AI company on computer-generated fashion models to “supplement human models.” The company frames the move as part of a “digital transformation journey” of diversity, equity, inclusion and sustainability. Although that sounds noble on the surface, Levi’s is essentially hiring a robot to generate the appearance of diversity while ridding itself of the burden of paying human beings who represent the qualities it wants to be associated with its brand.
Levi Strauss is partnering with Amsterdam-based digital model studio Lalaland.ai for the initiative. Founded in 2019, the company’s mission is “to see more representation in the fashion industry” and “create an inclusive, sustainable, and diverse design chain.” It aims to let customers see what various fashion items would look like on a person who looks like them via “hyper-realistic” models “of every body type, age, size and skin tone.”
Levi’s announcement echoes that branding, saying the partnership is about “increasing the number and diversity of our models for our products in a sustainable way.” The company continues, “We see fashion and technology as both an art and a science, and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Lalaland.ai, a company with such high-quality technology that can help us continue on our journey for a more diverse and inclusive customer experience.”
Levi’s claims, “AI will likely never fully replace human models for us” (note the qualifying “likely”). But I can’t help but see this as the first step in a dystopian slow walk toward automating the industry. As AI-generated “photography,” art and writing grow ever more convincing, we would be naive to take corporations at face value when they insist moves like this are about PR-friendly principles like celebrating diversity and looking out for the environment. At the very least, it’s awfully convenient that those high-minded motives also let them mass-produce something that previously required hiring people.
Levi Strauss reportedly began a 12-to-19-month process of cutting around 800 jobs — almost 20 percent of its corporate workforce — last year. It was part of a restructuring plan to save about $75 million to $100 million annually.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/levis-will-supplement-human-models-with-ai-generated-fakes-190011557.html?src=rss
Endure More with Extreme Endurance Supplement Review
Can Zinc Really Cure a Cold? What to Know About the Supplement
Everyone has a cold remedy they swear by, whether it’s chicken noodle soup, a bedroom humidifier, or over-the-counter medication. Zinc supplements have long been advertised as ways to help you quickly get over the sniffles, but do they really do anything? Here’s what you need to know about the supplement and whether or not you should reach for it the next time you catch a cold.
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CES 2023: You can now 3D print your skin supplement habit, thanks to Neutrogena
Every year at CES, Neutrogena has rolled out innovative and fun beauty care tech — from 2019’s customizable 3D sheet masks to 2020’s Next Gen Neutrogena Skin360 App. And this year is no different, with the launch of Nourished x Neutrogena Skin360 SkinStacks.
It appears Neutrogena has jumped on the skin supplement trend (collagen, anyone?) that you might recognize from your Instagram feed or an influencer ad. But unlike the typical skin supplements that you mix in with your smoothie or add to your vitamin regime, Neutrogena is making it personal.
At CES 2023, the skin care giant launched its collaboration with Nourished, a company that produces 3D-printed “super nutrient” gummies. The collaboration uses AI to give users personalized, on-demand, 3D-printed skin supplements called SkinStacks.
“At Neutrogena, we are grounded in the belief that beauty begins with healthy skin and are proud of a heritage that consistently delivers skincare solutions built at the intersection of science and technology, in a way that makes sophisticated science simple and inclusive for our consumers,” Roberto Khoury, senior vice president of Neutrogena, said in a press release. “Working with Nourished allows us to further that commitment by marrying our award-winning digital skin assessment with Nourished elegant 3D printing technology to create on-demand dietary supplements to help consumers meet their personal skincare goals.”
Credit: Courtesy Neutrogena
The innovation builds on Neutrogena’s Skin360 App, which launched at CES 2020. Using the Neutrogena Skin360 assessment tool in the app, people can take photos of their skin after cleaning it, answer a few questions about their skin and skincare goals, and will then be given a recommendation for the most ideal supplement stack for them. After that, Nourished comes in to 3D print their vegan, sugar-free gummy supplies and ship them daily compostable packets.
Beware: A gummy a day might not keep all of your skincare woes away, though. Dermatologist Hadley King told HuffPost that “beauty supplements are basically rebranded multivitamins,” meaning most people get all the nutrients they need from food.
The jury is still out on whether or not Neutrogena’s personalized, on-demand, 3D-printed skin supplements will change your skin — but it sure is a fun addition to beauty tech.