Companies making fake customer reviews to be “named and shamed”

In a move that might have more than a few business owners scrambling to delete their five star self written reviews of their own products, high profile review sites are starting to implement technology that will catch out anyone thinking of writing fake customer opinions.

According to GotJuice founder Mark Hall, Yelp has already implemented this initiative, with Trip Advisor expected to follow shortly after. “Any business that publishes fake reviews or pays for reviews will have their profile(s) branded with a stamp that informs the consumer that they can’t be trusted,” he said. This won't just cover fake positive reviews for their own products, but negative reviews of competitors as well.

Apparently there are several methods used by aggregate sites in order to determine if a review is real or not:

• A certain algorithm looks out for language that seems deceptive, these can then be flagged for further investigation
• Profile's that aren't fully completed are flagged as potential dummies. Lack of information as well as the signup date are considered.
• When the reviews are posted and whether accounts remain active are also noted
• Multiple reviews for similar companies from the same IP address will also be flagged

Hall also said that some of the big sites even try and entrap companies, by offering them paid reviews.

KitGuru Says: Fortunately sites like KG will always remain at the forefront of honest reviews – not every site can make that claim however.

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