An industry of paid-for-fake reviews has become rife on major internet platforms such as Facebook, Google and Trustpilot. That is according to research from consumer group Which?.
As part of an investigation into the issue, Which? says it was easily able to use a fake reviews broker to supply numerous numerous inauthentic positive reviews for a fictional business on all three platforms. The consumer group said it was told by one broker that it had created nearly 16,000 reviews for more than 550 customers around the world – a sign of a vibrant industry not being adequately tackled by the tech giants.
It accused Facebook, Google and Trustpilot of failing to do enough to stop fake reviews appearing on platforms and said they were slow to act to take down flagged reviews and accounts. In some cases, a number of businesses that Which? found to use fake reviews remained online.
