Have you ever read a glowing review of a product or service that was miles away from your own experience? If you thought this review must be fake, there’s a good chance you’re right. As news surfaced some weeks ago of fake reviews on Yelp, consumers must now be wondering where else have they trusted recommendations that turned out to be false.
Just to update: Yelp, one of the largest and most influential consumer review websites, has admitted that up to 20% of its reviews are fake – meaning they were not written by someone who actually used the product or service. Instead, several companies have consistently employed the services of freelance writers to write positive reviews about the business, and sometimes bash their competitors. More positive reviews boost ratings on Yelp and attract more customers.
But Yelp isn’t the only company where this practice was found. Marketwatch.com also reports that some of the ‘most trusted’ reviewers on the online mega-retailer Amazon’s website were from persons who regularly received free products in exchange for their reviews.
So if you can’t trust consumer reviews, what can you trust? Speak to family and friends, or try to find someone who has done business with the company before. Did the company deliver what they promised? Give them a call and ask some questions. What vibe are you getting? Do they sound customer friendly?
Yelp says it has installed new measures to weed out the fraudsters. But as more companies realize that customers are demanding higher standards of service delivery, the war to attract their business will continue to heat up. This war plays out every day on social media, with consumers getting an instant audience for their reviews, whether positive or negative. Does ethics really have no place in business? Perhaps consumers should just expect and accept that planting a few well placed influencers on Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere online is the new way of doing business. What do you think?