In the age of digital media, online reviews have become the ultimate authority for consumers when it comes to evaluating products and services. An overwhelmingly large number of shoppers now check online review sites before making a purchase.
However, with so much competition, businesses are not leaving any stone unturned to get that edge over their competitors. Fake online reviews are an example of such underhand tricks used by marketers to give their business a competitive edge. Even though fake reviews do not represent an ethical or fair practice from a marketing perspective, they are becoming increasingly common in this digital world.
Unfortunately, many consumers trust these fake positive reviews without thinking twice about their authenticity. That’s why in this article, you’ll learn all you need to know about preventing, spotting, and dealing with fake online reviews.
The Rise Of Fake Online Reviews
Online reviews started gaining popularity in the late ‘90s. At that time, not many consumers trusted online reviews. They thought that these reviews were written by people who had a vested interest in the product or service. This lack of trust resulted in a very low or negligible level of online reviews.
The situation has changed drastically in the last decade. Now, online reviews have become an important factor contributing to the overall sales of online businesses. According to a study, 91% of online shoppers say that positive reviews and recommendations influence their buying decisions.
Moreover, the number of consumers who trust online reviews has grown significantly. Now, the majority of online shoppers trust online reviews and use them to make their purchase decisions. This leads us to the conclusion that the number of reviews has grown exponentially in the last decade.
Why There Are Fake Online Reviews?
The growth of fake online reviews is alarming. To get insight into why marketers do this, it’s important to understand why consumers read reviews in the first place. Consumers rely on these reviews because they want to make an informed buying decision.
The first thing they look for in online reviews is the rating the product or service has received from other customers. If a product or service has a high rating, it tells consumers that most other customers were satisfied with their purchase. The second thing consumers look for is the content of the review.
If a customer writes a detailed review, it shows that he/she has a genuine reason for giving the product or service a high rating. If a review is too positive or feels fake, it might be a red flag for consumers.
How To Prevent Fake Online Reviews?
As a business owner, you need to actively monitor your online presence and make sure that the reviews are authentic. If you don’t do this, you might end up with a significant number of fraudulent reviews on your website.
To prevent this, you need to educate your customers about how to write a good review. Performing the right steps will help you to prevent fake reviews. So, let’s discuss the steps to prevent fake reviews.
First, you’ll need to choose your review platform carefully. Look for a reputable website where you can get genuine reviews. Some websites allow consumers to leave both positive and negative reviews.
The next step is to encourage your customers to leave a review for their purchase. You can do this by adding a pop-up on your website or by contacting your customers directly. You can also ask them to leave a review on the website where they bought from.
How To Spot Fake Online Reviews?
Once you’ve done all you can to prevent fake online reviews, it’s time to spot them. If you find that your business is being impacted by fake reviews, you can take the following steps to tackle them.
First, you can report the fake reviews to the website where they are posted. You can do this by clicking on the “report abuse” button on the website. This will bring up a form where you can explain why you think the review is fake. Next, you can use a review management service to help you identify the fake reviews and remove them.
By using a review management service, you’ll be able to identify the fake reviews and report them to the review platform. You’ll also be able to remove the genuine reviews that you think don’t represent the product or service accurately.
Step-By-Step Guide To Deal With Fake Online Reviews
The best way to handle a fake review is to learn from it. By paying attention to the specific details of the review, you can learn how to improve your product or service. Reviewers leave clues about why they liked or disliked the product or service. Here’s a simple guide on how you should handle fake reviews.
Step 1: Identify
The first thing you need to do is identify fake reviews. As you have read above, there are many ways in which you can tell if a review is fake. With that said, it is important to note that even genuine reviews and testimonials can often be misleading.
Given that you are reading this article, we assume that you have already put in place a review policy and are diligent about reviewing your customers’ feedback. This will help you identify false reviews.
Step 2: Reply
It is important to reply to each fake review on your online profile, even the ones that are blatantly fake. You should respond to these false reviews publicly, which will help to reduce the negative effects of these reviews on your business.
Step 3: Contact
In some cases, you might be able to identify the person who left the fake review and get in touch with them. This is especially true in the case of fake positive reviews, where the person might have been paid to leave a review.
If you can contact the person who left the fake review, you can request them to remove their review. If you can successfully get that review removed, you can also replace that review with your positive review, thus reducing the negative effects of the fake review on your business.
Step 4: Report
In some cases, you might not be able to get the fake review removed because it doesn’t violate the terms and conditions of the review website. If this is the case, you can still get the review removed by reporting it to the review website as a false review.
By doing this, you will notify the review website that the review is fake and it will have no choice but to remove it.
Step 5: Educate
Finally, you can reduce the negative effects of fake reviews by educating your customers about the dangers of fake reviews. You can do this by including a section in your review policy that addresses the issue of fake reviews and tells your customers how to identify and report false reviews.
Conclusion
Fake reviews are becoming a major problem in the online industry. These reviews can mislead customers and lead them to purchase products or services that aren’t up to the mark. To prevent fake reviews and keep your online business safe, you need to be proactive and prevent fake reviews from reaching your website.
The best way to do this is by taking the necessary steps to prevent fake reviews from being posted on your website. If you’ve been handed a ton of fake reviews, you can use the tips in this article to spot fake reviews.
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