New York Cracks Down On Companies Offering Fake Reviews

[OhioTom76]

New York is imposing fines on 19 companies accused of writing fake reviews on behalf of their clients. This is an interesting move as local businesses raise concerns over the validity of the reviews of their own businesses vs. their competitors.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/23/new-york-fake-online-reviews-yoghurt

In the past, some have speculated that sites such as Yelp were purposefully pushing negative reviews to the top in an attempt to extort local businesses to use their paid services. However it appears some of this discrepancy was being caused by third party companies engaging in this practice outside of Yelps control.

 

[Beverly]

90% of consumers claim online reviews influence their buying decisions

That's a huge influence factor. And, I'm guilty of relying on online reviews to make decisions too. However, I read more than just reviews on one site. Most times, I will read multiple sites and blogs before making any type of purchasing decision and not just rely on one person's good or bad opinion to help me make the decision. With that being said, I've often found that negative reviews are actually true and if I purchase the product anyway just to try it out, then it's a waste of money. So it's good there are negative reviews online, not just fake positive reviews which could easily sway a consumer's opinion toward making a purchase.