The prevalence of fake reviews is a serious problem on the internet. Reviews are extremely important to customers since they help them decide whether or not to buy a service or product. While many legitimate companies do their best to earn positive feedback from customers, some dishonest ones may try to game the system.
On prominent review websites, you may come across businesses with a perfect 5-star rating. However, you shouldn’t necessarily trust these ratings at face value.
By the time you finish reading this, you’ll know how to spot fake reviews. Okay, so here we go:
Only 5/5 Star Ratings
A perfect 5-star rating on review sites like Trustpilot or Google is a red indicator that the reviews are fake.
Both of these review platforms are frequently used by unethical marketing agencies. They makeup user profiles with made-up identities and short-lived email addresses, then utilize these to publish reviews.
This bogus review controversy was allegedly reported on Cardone Capital by a user.
Scammers put a lot of work into making fake reviews look authentic, making them difficult to notice. However, there are a few tells that readers of these reviews seem to pick up on.
To begin with, a false reviewer profile would just have one review. This is the biggest red flag, as typically customers publish between three and ten reviews on Google or Trustpilot, making a profile with only one study seem fishy.
Second, there is a strong likelihood that the review is fake if it consists of generalized compliments and provides no specifics regarding the service or product being reviewed. Third-party authors that write reviews without first trying the product or service do so for financial gain.
Finally, read the reviews and not simply the rating if the business listing has thousands of 5-star reviews. After reading a few reviews, you’ll have a good notion of whether or not they’re phony. Since a trustworthy company strives for consistency rather than perfection, it typically receives a 4-4.5 out of 5-star rating. Ratings of 5 stars are extremely suspicious.
Examine Online Resource Packages for Advocacy
The value of positive customer feedback has led to a rise in the popularity of this practice among firms. There has been a rise in the number of websites that let consumers leave reviews on business listings, but require the purchase of an “advocacy package” before the listed firm can respond to the reviews.
This isn’t the worst thing ever, but you should still take these review sites with a grain of salt.
Because it creates a serious bias.
If a website regularly receives payment from the business being reviewed, how can readers believe that the website’s reviews are objective?
These advocacy bundles tend to overcomplicate matters considerably.
Scammers frequently employ these platforms, paying for a glowing 5-star review that they then use to convince potential victims to part with their money. Most people put a lot of faith in these sites, and some of them even falsely claim to be government-run when they aren’t.
I won’t mention any names, but we all know which sites to avoid lest we tarnish our rosy perceptions of the world.
Legalese Disclaimers Regarding Affiliates
There is a great probability that you have accidentally reached an affiliate website.
These sites used to prominently display a disclaimer banner at the top of their blogs while affiliate marketing was still in its infancy; but, as the industry expanded, some marketers began to resort to dishonest practices to increase their profits.
One method they used was to simply not mention the affiliates at all.
This gives the impression to the reader that the review is objective and honest when in fact it is not.
A legal disclaimer regarding any affiliations is necessary. These disclosures are in place to inform the reader that the website may get financial gain as a result of the review or post.
A user who exposed what they claimed was a similar practice at Nine University earned widespread praise.
You can’t trust the reviews on affiliate sites unless you know that the site’s owner wouldn’t put anything bad in front of their readers. However, you shouldn’t put your faith in affiliate websites that suddenly appear online.
Fake Reviews’ Dangerous Advertising Tactics
Reviews can be informative, but you shouldn’t always put too much stock in them.
Make sure you’re not getting duped by false reviews by always doing your research. After reading this, you should be better able to identify genuine testimonials and dismiss the pretenders.
Help your friends from falling for this con by sharing this information with them.
Also Read: Elite Financial Mortgage’s Anthony Denardis Scam
