Consumers make decisions based on online reviews that might be fake. Here's what to know

“Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors.”

So said Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan in announcing a new rule the FTC has adopted to strengthen its hand in combating fake reviews and testimonials.

A 2021 study by Uberall, an  Internet marketing service, found that nearly 90% of online consumers rely at least in part on reviews before buying a product or service.

Yet a high percentage of reviews are fake. Amazon blocked more than 250 million suspected fake reviews in 2023. TripAdvisor reported that it removed more than 2 million fake reviews from its website in 2020.

These are five different types of questionable reviews

In a 2023 letter to the FTC, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG) identified five primary types of deceptive reviews:

1. The outright fake review, which could be written by the company itself or someone else, who may in fact be getting paid to fabricate a review.
2. A review written by a consumer who received a product at no charge, and the consumer writes a positive review without mentioning they got the item or service free. There may be an unwritten understanding that it was a quid pro quo.
3. Negative reviews on a site generated by competitors, or at a competitor’s direction.
4. The absence of negative reviews when a company suppresses unflattering reviews while playing up positive reviews.
5. Reviews or endorsements provided by someone in exchange for social media followers or something of similar value, or endorsements provided by influencers who received compensation in exchange for their testimonial, without the arrangement being disclosed.

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Amazon and Better Business Bureau teamed up on a lawsuit

The new FTC rule prohibits all of these practices. U.S.PIRG cited two additional unfair practices – threatening consumers who post negative reviews, which is prohibited by the Consumer Review Fairness Act; and representing that a seal or certification is independent when it’s actually controlled by the company, which violates the FTC Act.

In July, Amazon and the Better Business Bureau filed a lawsuit – Amazon’s first-ever joint lawsuit against fake review brokers – against an illegitimate business called ReviewServiceUSA.com. The company attempted to sell fake positive reviews to bad actors for publication on Amazon product listing pages or BBB business profile pages. They used fake customer accounts to post inauthentic positive reviews to misleadingly inflate a product or business’s rating and ranking.

Both organizations have clear policies prohibiting fake reviews. Melanie McGovern, director of public relations and social media for the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, said, “The Better Business Bureau and Amazon have come together in a lawsuit to fight fake reviews.

By combining our capabilities and sharing intelligence, we are better equipped to identify and act against the people behind these deceptive practices.”

Five red flags to avoid regarding reviews

Watch out for these red flags that a review might be fake:

• The reviewer has a very common or generic name like John Smith or Jane Doe, with no profile picture.
• Multiple, similar reviews posted in a short period of time.
• Glowing praise with no supporting detail.
• Grammar and spelling errors suggesting sellers have outsourced creation of reviews to overseas content farms.
• Industry jargon and descriptions of features and benefits rather than the reviewer’s experience with the product or company, suggesting an insider has filed the review.

Randy Hutchinson is president and CEO of Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Consumers make decisions based on online reviews that might be fake. Here's what to know