Are you sick of reading reviews of a business only to find out that the review you relied on to make a purchase was fake?
- How can we tell if a review is fake?
- What can we do if a review is fake?
- Are fake reviews legal?
- Are fake reviews ethical?
- Can I be penalized for having fake reviews?
Online reviews are essential for businesses to not only show up better online to get better conversions. (This is a widely known fact and any smart business would agree.) Yes there are ways to ethically get online reviews from past customers, but many business owners think it is okay to leave a reviews of their own business. Leaving a review of your own business is not only unethical it is illegal to review your own business. It is also illegal to have friends, coworkers, contractors and family to leave a review unless they disclose the relationship to the business.
How did we figure out that the person leaving the review was the owner of the business and that the second review was from the web company they used. The first part was really easy we went to the businesses website and clicked on their about page. the only person listed was the same person that left the review. The second review was still rather simple but can be harder in many situations. we searched for the reviewers name and On Carrot was the 5th result when i clicked on it Trevor was the first person on the page. We checked out their website and easily knew it what their relationship was.
IT IS ILLEAGL. “Monday the most comprehensive crackdown to date on deceptive reviews on the Internet. Agreements have been reached with 19 companies to cease their misleading practices and pay a total of $350,000 in penalties”, from the NY Times.