Since 2021, the folks at BrightLocal have been publishing their data on online reviews. This year, there is a new section on fake reviews. The data strongly suggests that not only are consumers wary of fake reviews, but they also want to see penalties for businesses that engage in them.
Since I began studying and covering online reviews, I have seen some positive changes and signs of slow growth in efforts to curb fake reviews. When I first started, Google would delete the fake reviews and leave the account live. This means that if an account posted fake reviews and all of its reviews were removed, the spammers could still use the account to post fake reviews. Google soon began deleting accounts to prevent them from being used to post reviews. Google has increased the use of algorithms to block reviews from being posted. Some people are complaining that the algorithm is too strict and prevents real reviews from being posted. I continue to see signs of fake reviews being posted. In September 2024, Google started placing consumer alerts on businesses caught with suspicious reviews. Sadly, these consumer alert warnings last only a month. The FTC has warned businesses several times about enforcing fake reviews, yet it is slow to take any action.
The BrightLocal study shows that 97% of consumers believe businesses face punishment for showing a face over fake reviews. 57% of consumers think the businesses should be banned from review platforms, while 46% beleive they should be removed from Google search results. 16% want to see criminal charges or jail time. I, too, would love to see criminal charges. I have never seen any criminal charges for the cases I have worked on. The few cases I have monitored have gone unscathed. I have seen State Bars punt on law firms buying fake reviews. Several of the law firms I have monitored lost the ability to get new reviews for several months. One of those law firms is Dolman Law Group in Florida. This was the most punitive case I had witnessed. The fact that they were unable to get new reviews for five months destroyed their Google Business Profile (GBPs) rankings and performance.
Google is not doing enough to crack down and stop fake reviews. The spammers are two steps ahead of Google. Even when Google is shown clear evidence that a business is engaging in fake reviews, Google doesn’t always take action. I am waiting to hear about a lawsuit against the people behind the negative review extortion scams.
As it stands, there is too much money to be made faking online reviews, and there are not enough deterrents to stop it.
