New report suggests UK firms are buying up fake Google reviews

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An illicit web of fake and paid-for reviews is manipulating the ratings of a range of Google business listenings, according to the consumer advocacy group Which?

In January 2021, Which? went undercover, establishing a fake company in order to purchase sham five-star reviews. The organisation created its own false Google business listing and purchased 20 Google reviews for £108 from the website ‘Reviewr’. In addition to creating five-star reviews, it was also able to dictate the exact wording of written reviews left.

Google reviews have become increasingly pivotal in consumers’ decision-making processes. Last year, Which? Found that, of those who used reviews of local businesses in the previous 12 months, nearly half had read Google reviews.

But Which? started noticing a pattern of almost 50 businesses that had at least three reviewers in common, from a stockbroker in Canary Wharf to a bakery in Edinburgh. From its investigation, Which found that one reviewer had allocated five stats to a solicitor in Liverpool which they claimed had enabled them to retrieve £45,400 from a bank following a scam.

There are fears that fraudulent reviews, which provide businesses with a short cut to climbing search rankings, are themselves on the rise. In 2019, the Federation of Small Businesses found that more than one-fifth of small firms reported that fake reviews were the most common challenge they faced when operating on the internet.

The Competition and Markets Authority, the UK’s regulator and consumer champion, is at present investigating the issue of fake reviews.

A Google spokesperson said: “We invest significantly in building technologies and instituting practices that help people find reliable information on Google. 

“Our policies clearly state reviews must be based on real experiences and information, and we closely monitor 24/7 for fraudulent content, using a combination of people and technology.

Natalie Hitchins, Head of Home Products and Services at Which?, said: ‘Businesses exploiting flaws in Google’s review system to rise up the ranks are putting other honest businesses on the back foot and leaving consumers at risk of being misled. 

“The regulator must stamp out this harmful behaviour and hold sites to account if they fail to protect their users, otherwise the government must urgently increase websites’ legal responsibilities for misleading content on their platforms. 

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