A New York sting operation caught businesses paying for positive ratings on recommendation websites.
The “Operation Clean Turf” caught 19 different companies that were getting paid by small businesses to write fake reviews. These companies were fined a total of $350,000, proving that fake reviews are deliberate attempts to mislead consumers.
I believe that when businesses are not successful in getting enough customers, they turn to this last resort, hoping that their sales will increase by making fake reviews on Yelp. Majority of people rely on online rating websites such as Yelp on debating whether or not to utilize the business’s products or service, therefore when these business owners get desperate, in my opinion, they will use fake reviews since they know that this is most efficient to attract customers.
OwnerListens Mobile App
Another issue was that businesses were losing incredible amounts of sales and customers because of the numerous negative reviews that were being posted on Yelp. Angry customers were using Yelp to express their dissatisfying experiences with the businesses. Therefore, OwnerListens, a mobile app was created to establish a direct line of communication between business owners and their customers. By connecting with angry customers before they “yelp” and by listening to their concerns, you can really make these customers your biggest advocates.
Photo Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/09/26/yelps-fake-review-problem/
Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2013/09/26/yelps-fake-review-problem/
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