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Accolades on Amazon: From Top Reviewers to Top Contributors

Last week we looked at the many badges that IMDb users can attain through use of the site, all through the creation of that tasty, tasty data. Well, first off, IMDb is owned by Amazon, now you know. But also, Amazon isn’t to be outdone entirely by it’s subsidiary.

This blog has already gone in depth on Amazon’s Vine Voice Reviewers, as well as the now defunct Early Reviewer Program, but there’s more to Amazon badges than just those.

The Kit, The Kaboodle

If you want the fast and dirty details, just click here. But if you’re feeling friendly, stick around as we walk through all of these badges.

The first set of badges refer to the number of reviews an Amazon Customer has written, along with their helpfulness; these being #1 REVIEWER, TOP 10 REVIEWER, TOP 50 REVIEWER, TOP 100 REVIEWER, TOP 500 REVIEWER, or TOP 1000 REVIEWER. Closely related is HALL OF FAME REVIEWER.

Here’s how Amazon explains each:

These badges identify our best reviewers. The Top Reviewer Rankings showcase our best contributors at the moment, while the Hall of Fame honors those who have been highly ranked in previous years.

At least similar in name is the TOP CONTRIBUTOR, which Amazon awards to customers who show a passion in a certain area of products - like photography, gardening, housewares, etc. - and whose reviews are deemed helpful by other customers.

An Amazon Verified Profile is exactly what it sounds like. This person is real, their account is fully set up. It’s not likely they’re just here to troll.

And wrapping up the badges that you actually might have seen is the Vine Voice, which in essence notes that an Amazon customer was gifted an item in exchange for a review. It’s a seller’s way of gaining reviews for new products, without illegally flooding the review space with bots.

Here’s a look at a few of those in the wild:

That Blue Check? Don’t worry about that. That’s a teaser for another blog (it’s an Amazon Influencer check).

Now, the remaining badges are all pretty self-explanatory, but are much more rare.

  • AMAZON OFFICIAL

    • This is an official Amazon representative. This is a permanent badge

  • AUTHOR, ARTIST, MANUFACTURER

    • These badges are given to verified representatives of items listed on Amazon, such as the author, artist, or manufacturer of a product. This is a permanent badge

  • THE

    • This badge indicates that the person to whom it was granted is "the" celebrity most people associate with that Real Name. For example, when you see "the" below Jeff Bezos's Real Name on one of his reviews, you know that the celebrity founder of Amazon wrote that review. This is a permanent badge.

It’s strange that they make a reference to Jeff Bezos, when we’ve seen his reviews, and they don’t include the THE. But at the very least, the concept is understood.

And there you have it. The badges of Amazon. It’s not quite as colorful as the world of IMDb badges. Maybe not as trendy as Yelp Elite status. But you can bet there are some stay at home reviewers who salivate when they see they’ve jumped into the top 500, 100, 50 reviewers. It’s a wild world kiddies. Stay sane out there.