There’s a great article “Herding the Mob” in the most recent Wired. I’ll write more later about the implications for ranking systems, but I was struck by this account of cheating on eBay:
(Doesn’t it suck when an article only exists on paper? Someday this will feel so quaint!)
My immediate thought: Why doesn’t eBay publish any details about the dollar amounts of past transactions that were used to build a reputation? It just seems so obvious. A quick search revealed that others have been thinking the same way.
They wouldn’t have to reveal the exact items purchased, but at least the amount of money involved in transactions should be shown. And for that matter, the effect reputation should be proportional to the amount of the transaction. One bad rating on a $100 transaction should counteract 100 good ratings on $1 transactions. (On second thought, would this make it easier to boost your reputation by engaging in one large fake transaction?)
For maybe 6 months you can see the details of the transactions. On other note watch out for scammers using other peoples’ idle accounts.