u/Far_Review_7177

In late May 2025, there was a rash of Vine listings for Lauren Horn's This is Not a Sketchbook, It's an Art Class. Unfortunately, they were mostly/entirely selling counterfeit copies, leading to posts like this one:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AmazonVine/comments/1kz7hce/tips_on_how_to_post_a_review_for_a/

The top comment on this post references a then-approved 1-star review that had called out the details indicating it was counterfeit. It was not my comment, but it WAS my Vine review.

I shrieked with delight when I first saw my review had been highlighted by someone else as a good example of how to handle this, and I watched as helpful votes on it climbed far beyond what my other Vine reviews had received at that time. The screenshot in this post showing 41 helpful votes was taken July 23, 2025. I kept going back to it every so often for a long while, curious as to how high the helpful count would go when it was primarily Vine users on reddit who would see it given how little attention the listing itself was getting. I think it hit around 50? I'm not sure, but it had still been up and visible from my profile last I checked, which was at least several months past when it was posted.

This review is gone now. The link leads to Dogs of Amazon. R.I.P. and all that.

Now, do I actually know why it was removed? No, of course not. Amazon doesn't tell us these things.

However, I had done a very similar Vine review of the same book on another counterfeit listing. Both listings have since been removed, but my other review is still there. My review of the other counterfeit listing has zero helpful votes. It was not linked to from reddit. It probably hardly got seen at all.

There are many unknowns. However, if Amazon had an algorithm for suspicious activity that screened for reviews with disproportionate views for the listing and high helpful vote counts? Yea, my shared review would absolutely fit, and I can't really think of a more likely reason it would get removed months after approval while another very similar review by me that didn't get the same attention remains. By all means, tell me if you can think of more likely explanations.

Credit goes to u/Glittering-Range-338/ for bringing up the possibility that suspicious helpful activity may be under fire right now in response to my post about helpful votes dropping.

I haven't seen suspicious helpful activity come up yet as a possibility in our banned user theories. If anyone who has been banned can chime in on their own helpful vote activity--whether on their reviews or voting on others--that would be interesting as well.

Please note that I'm not angry at anyone or upset that my review was removed. It's just a thing that happened, and I thought others might find it interesting as well.

In any case, the possibility that even our positive reactions to reviews shared here may put them at risk is something to consider.

https://preview.redd.it/fl1jqitstx2h1.jpg?width=410&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5f41639fac6060706670777470b54ed5dcccea6e

I check my helpful votes total fairly frequently--at least daily. It's kinda an OCD thing, but I also appreciate the tiny dopamine hit that comes with knowing my words helped someone. For a long time before last week, my helpful votes total would increase 1-5 votes most days.

About a week ago, a couple days or so before the glitch where our profiles hid our review history from us, I noticed my total stayed the same for several days. This was also right after a new review got 35 helpful votes overnight, which initially freaked me out until I realized the product itself was a viral one. I didn't expect a review to get 35 votes and then suddenly stop being helpful, so I wondered if total helpful votes was glitched.

Then, of course, our profile views of review history disappeared for a few days, and then it came back.

My helpful review total was lower than it had been before. Odd.

Then it dropped twice more in the time since then, despite my seeing helpful increases on individual reviews--i.e. my review of the viral product had gone up to 40 helpful votes.

Now, we can't undo helpful votes to my knowledge once they're made, so the only other explanation I've got is that my reviews are being removed... either separate of their listing or WITH the listing.

I have over 3k Vine reviews. Going through them all to try and sort if I have reviews removed on listings that remain would be borderline insane. I did notice one recently reviewed item is off Amazon now, but I'm not sure about deeper.

Long story short, has anyone else noticed a drop in helpful vote total? Any ideas if more reviews are being removed separate of listings vs entire listings removed, possibly for suspicious activity?

Also, if entire listings ARE being axed for suspicious activity, is this tied to the increase in bans? Like, maybe those who gave 5-star reviews to multiple axed listings are getting targeted?

Tl;dr: My helpful votes have been dropping, and it's got me asking questions and wondering if the cause is related to the recent community bans.

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Update 1: u/Glittering-Range-338 corrected me about reviews for removed listings. They stay on your profile, but get moved to the bottom. This makes it more likely that removed reviews--not just removed listings--are the cause.

Title says it. I can see my reviews again when looking at my account profile. Rejoice and stuff.

Also, remember to change your settings to private with a generic name to protect yourself from retaliation.