Social media heavily affects the decisions of people. From one restaurant review to the number of likes on its Facebook page, it can either pull or push customers away. As mentioned in the article, companies nowadays have taken advantage of the ability to improve their online reputation through fake reviews. They will often give positive feedback on their company or even pay others for false testimonials. This ties in with what we learned in COMM 101 about business ethics. I believe such false reviews are extremely unethical as it deceives the customers. As a user of Yelp, I heavily rely on customer reviews and ratings for unfamiliar restaurants. However, if the owners give incorrect and higher reviews than they deserve, it misleads the customers. There are even internet marketing and online reputation management companies that boost a business’ online image with “fake testimonials on a variety of popular review websites for a price”. These companies run their own businesses unethically by providing positive reviews while making revenue. This is a highly improper way for business to gain a better brand image as it is completely false. In my opinion, businesses, even though they are desperate for profit maximization, should not buy fake support, reviews, or likes, and risk their ability to run a long-term business.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/fake-online-reviews-4-ways-companies-can-deceive-you-1.2825080