Children’s dolls coming up as sex toys in Amazon searches
Anatomically correct children’s dolls have been popping up as sex toys in Amazon searches — and the e-tailing giant has insisted to sellers that it’s powerless to prevent the problem, The Post has learned.
The more realistic and lifelike toys, sometimes called “reborn” dolls, have become popular among parents who are looking to prepare their toddlers for a new brother or sister, or who are otherwise fed up with the tradition of neutered dolls.
“I want my daughter to understand the physical differences in gender and not be confused,” one mother wrote in her five-star review of a 16-inch, anatomically correct infant doll sold by Rifi for $19.79, which has both boy and girl versions.
But after viewing the Rifi girl doll, some customers also have gone on to purchase dildos and vibrators, according to their Amazon page late last week. The Q&A section revealed some shoppers had come across the doll while browsing for sex toys. One asked whether the doll “has a hole?” — prompting a slew of outraged responses.
“The fact that it’s showing in the adult sex toys is very appalling,” customer Michelle Henry wrote in October 2017.
“Amazon, please fix your search algorithm so that these baby dolls do not show under ‘sex dolls,’” another disgusted customer wrote nearly two years later. “You haven’t been able to fix this by now?”
The situation is particularly stomach-churning as the algorithms that have juxtaposed sex toys with kids’ toys appear to be driven by the activity of Amazon customers — in this case sex pervs, according to industry experts.
“Enough people who were looking for sex products ended up buying these products,” says James Thomson of Buy Box Experts, a consulting firm to Amazon sellers.
“This problem is very fixable,” Thomson added, noting Amazon already has ways to “deactivate” sex-toy listings to prevent them from popping up in kids’ toy listings.
A source close to Amazon confirmed the dolls were “tagged correctly” and that the sickening juxtapositions were the result of “customer behavioral associations.”
Nevertheless, Amazon has been taking a hands-off approach to complaints, according to sellers. A chubby, 18-inch baby girl doll made of “high quality soft silicone” by a company called Vollence recently turned up in an Amazon search for “sex dolls,” according to an investigation by The Post.
Other X-rated results crowding the same search included a $229 “Women’s Torso Dolls for Men” and a $1,299, full-size “Realistic Real Life Love” silicone doll manufactured by a company called HotDesire.
Reached by The Post, a Vollence rep said, “Our links have no sexy keywords” and that it had reached out to Amazon to “try to solve this problem.” But the doll seller only got a shrugging response.
“Please note that there is no human intervention in how the search results appear for any particular product and we do not own control over it, as it is solely dependent on the automated system,” the Amazon rep told Vollence on Dec. 30, according to a copy of the online response obtained by The Post.
Another realistic-looking toddler doll named Luna, who has curly blond hair, “long baby lashes” and a “naive expression,” also came up during a recent search for sex dolls. The seller, PursueBaby, said it got a similar brush-off from Amazon when it complained.
“They have no way to help us prevent our products from being displayed here,” a frustrated rep who called herself “Eva” told The Post in an e-mail.
Reached late last week, an Amazon rep told The Post that the company investigated the disturbing search results and fixed the problem. As of Sunday, however, sex toys were still listed as alternative purchases on the Rifi doll’s page, and the testy, years-old exchange in its Q&A section remained.
“Why the Hell is this doll listed under sex toys? I mean, has molestation become legal where it’s okay?” one shopper wrote in March 2018. “I mean, are you serious amazon?!”
Nicolas Vega contributed to this story
via: https://nypost.com/2020/01/05/childrens-dolls-coming-up-as-x-rated-products-in-amazon-searches/
Photo Credit: Natasha Harridge / MDWfeatures