Writing Fake Reviews

Writing fake reviews can heavily influence the purchasing decision of consumers. So, where do fake reviews come from? Here are a couple of sources:

• Vendors and service providers that sell positive and negative reviews.
• Former employees who retaliate against their former employers by posting negative reviews.
• When marketers and business owners create fake reviews to attract more customers.
• Employees, family, and friends who post positive reviews to support their friends/family business. 

How Can You Determine that Reviews are Fake?

There are a couple of websites with filters or systems that can automatically detect a fake review. However, consumers and business owners can also learn how to spot fake reviews and report the associated business for lack of best practices. Below are steps that you can use to spot fake reviews.

Look at the Profile of the Reviewer

Take some time to verify the genuineness of the reviewer by checking their Twitter, Facebook, or website profile (if any). Look at the date when the account was created, review the account’s activity, social accounts, and work information. Do the profile and the accounts activity belong to a real person? If not, you need to mark the review as a red flag.

Look at Specifics

Another indicator for fake reviews can be the lack of details in the text. If the reviewer does not use specific details of the product or service and doesn’t describe their experience, the review must be fake.

Watch Out for Repeat Brand Mentions

If the review appears to read in the tone of an ad copy written or a press release by a marketer, it probably is fake. Check to see if there are repeat and unnatural mentions of the product name, brand, or product model. For example, “I prefer using the new Toshiba Tecra A50-D laptop. It has Core i7 and SSD 256 GB.” 

Check the Wording

If you want to spot a fake review, check for phrases and words that no other customer can use. For example, if you want to get a gaming laptop review and see “discrete GPU with 4VRAM,” the review might not be genuine. It is only marketers who talk this way, not consumers. If we know the importance of word of mouth, we also know that is not a natural way a customer would talk.

Be Cautious of Black and White

Online consumers have strong opinions. But reviews that appear too polished or too harsh should establish their claim has a foundation. Real reviews do not edge on one side of the spectrum or the other. Therefore, people who write negative reviews should still say something positive about your product/service.

Reach out to the Review Website

You can reach out to the support staff or admins of the review site if you suspect that the review is fake. After an investigation discovers that the review is fake, the website will take down the profile or listing of the business. Knowing all this should make you wonder exactly how negative reviews affect your business.

F.A.Q.S