People trusts reviews on Google for a lot of products they buy online, but as they say you should never trust anyone with a blind eye until you know they are loyal towards you. It has recently been revealed that a growing industry has been found which helps businesses across UK in helping their business grow by posting fake reviews online and being paid for in return. Talk about making money doing nothing.
Some companies hire people to post fake reviews and five star ratings for their brands and products on Google so that more and more customers are inclined towards their products and in return they are paid an amount for their reviews.
When this was found out a consumer grouping 'Which' went out on an investigation online and found out that a large number of fake reviewers were using similar methods and tactics for a number of businesses and helping them in growing by posting fake reviews all across the United Kingdom but the team at Which needed actual proof to support their accusations and to bring forward companies that were actually buying fake reviews online.
So Which Team went under cover and joined several firms stating that it is in search for some review manipulation services for their business. They asked for fake reviews as well as fraudulent five star ratings and had acquired 20 reviews for just one hundred and fifty dollars, one hundred and eight pounds if you look it up in British figures. Through their searching from one of the review sites it found a company called “Reviewr” which took part in selling online reviews and posting it on certain sites. Apart from this, other websites like AppSally, BuyServiceUSA, DripFeedReviews and Link Building Services also provided fake review services and such other sites could easily be found through an easy search of “Buy Google Reviews.”
Upon further investigations and digging deep into the profiles of these fake reviewers the company found out that Google accounts used to plant its fake reviews had infiltrated Google reviews at scale and were reviewing the same selection of businesses all around the country. They also found out that among 45 companies at least three companies had a same reviewer in common.
Although Google says that it has strict policies against such fake reviews but from the looks of it, it needs to update its game because such fraudulent activities are happening on its platform which can be financially harmful for the buyers.
People have a lot of trust in Google reviews and they buy a lot of their online products from websites based on the sites reviews on Google. Sometimes the products based on fake reviews turn out to be okay but at times they are completely different from what was displayed online and if someone buys a product of a huge amount this can be a source of financial loss for them.
Illustration: Filo / Getty Images / iStock
Read next: With the latest improvements in the Search, Google aims to make people aware of the trending news
Some companies hire people to post fake reviews and five star ratings for their brands and products on Google so that more and more customers are inclined towards their products and in return they are paid an amount for their reviews.
When this was found out a consumer grouping 'Which' went out on an investigation online and found out that a large number of fake reviewers were using similar methods and tactics for a number of businesses and helping them in growing by posting fake reviews all across the United Kingdom but the team at Which needed actual proof to support their accusations and to bring forward companies that were actually buying fake reviews online.
So Which Team went under cover and joined several firms stating that it is in search for some review manipulation services for their business. They asked for fake reviews as well as fraudulent five star ratings and had acquired 20 reviews for just one hundred and fifty dollars, one hundred and eight pounds if you look it up in British figures. Through their searching from one of the review sites it found a company called “Reviewr” which took part in selling online reviews and posting it on certain sites. Apart from this, other websites like AppSally, BuyServiceUSA, DripFeedReviews and Link Building Services also provided fake review services and such other sites could easily be found through an easy search of “Buy Google Reviews.”
Upon further investigations and digging deep into the profiles of these fake reviewers the company found out that Google accounts used to plant its fake reviews had infiltrated Google reviews at scale and were reviewing the same selection of businesses all around the country. They also found out that among 45 companies at least three companies had a same reviewer in common.
Although Google says that it has strict policies against such fake reviews but from the looks of it, it needs to update its game because such fraudulent activities are happening on its platform which can be financially harmful for the buyers.
People have a lot of trust in Google reviews and they buy a lot of their online products from websites based on the sites reviews on Google. Sometimes the products based on fake reviews turn out to be okay but at times they are completely different from what was displayed online and if someone buys a product of a huge amount this can be a source of financial loss for them.
Read next: With the latest improvements in the Search, Google aims to make people aware of the trending news
