The cabinet is banning the posting or having posted fake reviews on the internet. Consumers should be better protected when making online purchases or booking a hotel room or trip.
Fake reviews are a big problem for the customers of companies such as Tripadvisor, Bol.com or, for example, Apple. Products for sale in their webshop sometimes get wildly positive reactions. These companies regularly receive complaints that sometimes few of these positive reviews appear to be correct.
No less than three quarters of people base their purchase partly on reviews. You as a user can therefore suffer a lot from fake reviews: you think that a product or service is good, but in practice this turns out to be disappointing. To protect you from making this mistake, PlusOnline has prepared a number of tips to help you spot fake reviews.
Always sort reviews by ‘most recent’ or ‘newest’
If a product is just new, you can throw almost all reviews in the trash, especially for larger/more complex products. How can someone know within a day whether a TV, tablet or smartphone is working properly or not? Then there is a fake review
Copy the review text and paste it into Google
Do you come across exactly the same text on multiple sites? Then there is a good chance that the reviewer will be paid for his review. Copy the text into Google and see if it comes back more often. Chances are he’s just fake.
Is the entire product name, including a long-winded number, used?
Then there is a good chance that the reviewer will try to make the site and the product appear higher in Google’s search results. So fake.
Is a product often rated average, but a user only rates product parts with a 10 or a 1?
Chances are it’s a purchased review. Users who really leave a review almost never find everything perfect or everything very bad, the story often consists of pluses and minuses.
Too much enthusiasm is often not a good sign
If someone praises something you have to be extra alert, especially when it comes to simpler products or services. Reviewers who rate a ballpoint pen with ‘Since I started using this ballpoint pen, a whole new world has opened up for me, it makes my work so much easier than before… ect. Often get paid for such a review. Note: there are also exceptions to this. Sellers also often realize that this is known to the general public and therefore often add a minus. For the shape
Source: AD, HCC and Tech Academy
