The secret world of fake online reviews is thriving, with faceless vendors offering to write five-star ratings for a fee. According to a recent report from the UK consumer group Which?, groups offering fake reviews on the likes of Amazon, Google and Trustpilot continue to thrive on Facebook. The Guardian's analysis of pages on the social media site found 34 related to Amazon, with 56,000 members in total, and 17 groups offering fake reviews for Trustpilot, Google or both, with about 20,000 members.
The secret world of fake online reviews is thriving, with faceless vendors offering to write five-star ratings for a fee. According to a recent report from the UK consumer group Which?, groups offering fake reviews on the likes of Amazon, Google and Trustpilot continue to thrive on Facebook. The Guardian's analysis of pages on the social media site found 34 related to Amazon, with 56,000 members in total, and 17 groups offering fake reviews for Trustpilot, Google or both, with about 20,000 members.
The problem of fake reviews has been a long-running threat to consumer confidence, and authorities are taking action. The UK government is tabling its long awaited Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill in parliament on Tuesday, which will make it illegal to pay someone to write a fake review, offer to submit, commission or facilitate one, or host a review without taking steps to check it is real. It follows a similar legal ban passed in Ireland last year.
Websites are also taking on the fight, including in the courts. Trustpilot won lawsuits against two companies, the property business Euro Resales and the Dental Experts, last month, accusing them of posting fake reviews. Warning disclaimers are now on their Trustpilot pages. The companies had posted at least 2,360 false reviews between them. The Dental Experts, which has since filed for insolvency, was ordered to pay £6,471.25 in damages, while Euro Resales paid £1,600. Trustpilot donated the money to Citizens Advice.
Tripadvisor’s latest transparency report, released earlier this month, lays bare the scale of the problem. The travel site says it identified and removed 1.3m fake reviews last year, with 72% caught before being posted. The removed posts included 24,521 associated with paid-review companies. Almost half of those originated from six countries: India, Russia, the US, Turkey, Italy, and Vietnam.
Andrew, a pseudonym chosen to protect his anonymity, is a thirtysomething computer analyst from Oklahoma who has built up 40 reviews through sporadic work over the past six years. He says the job is
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/22/it-can-be-incredibly-profitable-the-secret-world-of-fake-online-reviews
