PUBLIC TRACES

A WORKED INVESTIGATION

What does repeated overlap look like?

Start with one reviewer’s history. Follow nearby five-star reviews of the same products. See which reviewers appear again.

Generated example · no real accounts

ONE RESULT, EXPLAINED

Reviewer demo-129
appears in 6 distinct egos.

The search opened 10 reviewer histories and reached 88 reviewers. This reviewer has a corroboration count of 6.

An ego is the local neighborhood around one opened reviewer: people giving five stars to the same products around the same time. Each distinct opened ego adds at most one count to a reviewer, even when several products overlap.

Where the count comes from

Here are 3 supporting egos. Each row shows one shared product and the two five-star review dates, within the selected ±28-day window.

Examples supporting the selected reviewer’s computed corroboration count
Opened reviewerShared productOpened reviewer’s datedemo-129’s dateCount added
demo-18P000042019-04-072019-04-03+1 ego
demo-89P000042019-03-272019-04-03+1 ego
demo-108P000042019-04-062019-04-03+1 ego

These rows are examples from the computed result. The complete ledger below includes the remaining supporting egos and product connections.

FROM A RESULT TO A CONTRIBUTION

What would you share?

An investigation records what was observed and where it came from. See a small excerpt from this same example and how future reviewed contributions would work.

View an example contribution →
Change the search settings 10 histories · cap 3 · ±28 days

The budget limits histories opened. The cap guides which reviewer is opened next; it does not cap the count reported for that reviewer. The time window defines nearby activity.

Inspect the full result Counts, supporting egos, product bursts, and search history
Reviews in the example610Full generated panel; the search opens selected histories.
Histories opened10
Complete product windows9seed egos
Highest corroboration6distinct seed egos

COLLECTION PROGRESS

Each history adds context.

88 reviewers reached
First historyLast opened history

CORROBORATION LEDGER

Inspect the reasons.

Up to 30 reviewers

A count records appearance across distinct opened neighborhoods. Expand a row to see supporting seeds, products, and weeks.

demo-1293 products6 egos

6 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 6 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 6

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-18P0000490
demo-89P0000490
demo-108P0000490
demo-9P0000097
demo-160P0000097
demo-151P0000583
demo-12 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P00004160
demo-9P0000062
demo-160P0000062
demo-151P0000062
demo-1061 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-18P0000490
demo-89P0000490
demo-129P0000490
demo-108P0000490
demo-1151 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-9P0000062
demo-9P0000097
demo-160P0000062
demo-160P0000097
demo-151P0000062
demo-161 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000083
demo-9P0000083
demo-160P0000083
demo-151P0000083
demo-1602 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000090
demo-192P0003362
demo-9P0000090
demo-151P0000090
demo-1619 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-129P00000104
demo-192P00007160
demo-192P0003362
demo-9P0000097
demo-9P00007160
demo-160P0000097
demo-160P00000104
demo-160P00017153
demo-160P0002113
demo-160P0002355
demo-160P0002662
demo-160P0003076
demo-160P0003362
demo-160P00042104
demo-1625 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-192P00007160
demo-9P0000097
demo-9P00007160
demo-160P0000097
demo-160P00017146
demo-160P0002120
demo-160P00038160
demo-1684 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-192P00007153
demo-192P0001427
demo-9P0000097
demo-9P00007153
demo-160P0000097
demo-160P00017146
demo-1793 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000083
demo-9P0000083
demo-160P0000083
demo-160P0002127
demo-160P0004297
demo-151P0000083
demo-182 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-25P0002583
demo-89P0000490
demo-129P0000490
demo-108P0000490
demo-1972 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-192P00007160
demo-9P0000097
demo-9P00007160
demo-160P0000097
demo-2184 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000090
demo-192P0003341
demo-9P0000090
demo-160P0000090
demo-160P0002655
demo-160P0003341
demo-160P00042111
demo-331 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000069
demo-9P0000069
demo-160P0000069
demo-151P0000069
demo-421 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-18P00004111
demo-89P00004111
demo-129P00004111
demo-108P00004111
demo-471 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P00000111
demo-9P0000048
demo-160P00000111
demo-151P0000048
demo-821 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000083
demo-9P0000083
demo-160P0000083
demo-151P0000083
demo-841 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000090
demo-9P0000090
demo-160P0000090
demo-151P0000034
demo-891 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-18P0000483
demo-129P0000483
demo-108P0000483
demo-192P0000483
demo-92 products4 egos

4 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 4 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 4

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000069
demo-192P00007167
demo-160P0000069
demo-151P0000069
demo-01 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-9P0000062
demo-160P0000062
demo-151P0000062
demo-1081 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-18P0000490
demo-89P0000490
demo-129P0000490
demo-1161 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-9P0000097
demo-160P0000097
demo-1261 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000090
demo-9P0000090
demo-160P0000090
demo-1501 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000097
demo-9P0000097
demo-160P0000097
demo-1512 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P00005104
demo-9P0000062
demo-160P0000062
demo-1639 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-192P00007153
demo-192P0001427
demo-192P0003355
demo-9P00007153
demo-160P00017160
demo-160P0002120
demo-160P0002341
demo-160P0002662
demo-160P0003076
demo-160P0003355
demo-160P0004297
demo-1664 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-192P00007160
demo-192P0001427
demo-192P0003355
demo-9P00007160
demo-160P0002655
demo-160P0003355
demo-1674 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-192P00007160
demo-192P0003348
demo-9P00007160
demo-160P0002355
demo-160P0003348
demo-160P00042104
demo-1693 products3 egos

3 distinct product-window-complete seed egos; 3 observed seed egos.

Observed count, including incomplete coverage: 3

Source seedProductWeek (day index)
demo-129P0000090
demo-129P00000104
demo-9P0000090
demo-160P0000090
demo-160P00000104
demo-160P0002113
demo-160P00038160

Complete means product windows covered for captured five-star seed reviews. Seed histories may be truncated. Counts are public-trace evidence, not fraud probabilities.

PRODUCT-TIME STRUCTURE

Observed product bursts

ProductReviewsReviewersWindow spanCorroboration mass
P00000212028 days60
P00000171728 days60
P00007161617 days49
P00033171720 days46
P00017151521 days36
P00026141414 days34
P00021131318 days34
P000009926 days27
P00023101021 days26
P000046628 days25
P000428817 days25
P000389913 days24

Mass sums corroboration counts within an observed cluster. It is not a probability.

Search history

A history with no eligible ego can still be opened. 9 of the 10 opened histories produced eligible egos with complete product-window coverage in this generated example.

StepOpened historyNeighborsReviewers reached
1demo-1867
2demo-2517
3demo-8968
4demo-1294144
5demo-106044
6demo-108645
7demo-1922965
8demo-94370
9demo-1606483
10demo-1512288

Each example was computed with the paper’s existing Python implementation on generated records, using fixed random seed 42. Choosing settings opens the matching precomputed result. No real accounts are included. Explore the completed Amazon 2023 findings →