July 19, 2010 by Trent Morgan
The increasing ability for social media to influence public opinion is becoming more obvious as spammers create ripples when it comes to commenting upon business reputations and services. A new report suggests that spam reviews which are posted up on customer review sites, posing as legitimate comments, are having a hugely detrimental effect upon small business owners within the UK.
Review sites are an extremely powerful and influential way of promoting a business ethically, as people listen to the input of other people and trust the views published. A positive review from a satisfied customer can generate myriad new sales, just as one single negative comment could mean that a host of potential customers are deterred from using the service provider.
The impact of hoax and spoof comments by spammers has come to light recently, following the persecution of a photographer, Gary Beal, through an online review site. Google Maps featured his business, and invited people to comment upon the service which Beal’s company provided. Despite being well-liked and well regarded, his company was highlighted for poor service and high costs.
When the negative comment was investigated, it transpired that someone had taken the brand of a rival company to Mr. Beal’s, and posted up over one hundred similar comments on various review sites. Mr. Beal commented: “When you first start a business the thing you’re looking for most is exposure, so if you put your website up onto something like local businesses by Google Maps, you expect people to go and look. If it’s a bad review and it’s the only one there, the competition is so stiff, no-one’s going to pick up the telephone.”
Google maintains that it can identify and block spam automatically. However, within one day one hundred reviews were published under a false name. Google is working to fix the issues, while preserving genuine reviews and comments on their site.
Related posts:
