Despite recent efforts, it seems as though Alibaba‘s counterfeiting controversy is determined to stick around.
As of August, a variety of international trade groups have sent Alibaba a letter to inform it that its recent efforts are insufficient to quell the tidal wave of counterfeit goods that is currently flooding the various marketplaces Alibaba operates.
While the groups acknowledge Alibaba’s efforts they note the site’s software is not capable of spotting fakes so long as photographs are “moderately blurry.”
On U.S.-based footwear trade group noted Taobao, Alibaba’s largest platform, “is still flooded with counterfeits, while the takedown procedures remain as complicated and burdensome as ever.”
The complaints would never be good news but come at a particularly inauspicious time for Alibaba, given renewed scrutiny from both the Chinese government and the U.S. Trade Representative agency. The U.S.-based group could decide to add Alibaba marketplaces to the list of international shopping hubs known to be counterfeiting hotspots.
Taobao was on the list at one point but eventually was taken off.
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There also remains doubt if Alibaba is really all that serious about removing counterfeit goods from its sites. Several analysts note that, while Alibaba doesn’t exactly want to be internationally famous for it, it is also far from interested in closely policing the situation.
