MEMPHIS, Tenn. — At one point or another, many consumers have relied on others reviews to see if they are going to give someone their business or not.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sent notices to more than 700 companies alerting them to what it considers to be deceptive practices in gathering and publishing reviews, endorsements, and testimonials.
ABC24 spoke with Randy Hutchinson from the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South (BBB) about what people should know about false reviews.
In its annual survey on reviews, BrightLocal – a website that tracks reviews and rankings online - found 77% of consumers always or regularly read online reviews when researching businesses. It said only 2% never do.
The survey found the following percentage of consumers are "very" or "fairly" suspicious about reviews:
- 70% on Facebook
- 59% on Amazon
- 52% on Yelp
- 45% on Google
- The BBB was the most trusted at only 29%.
The FTC notices are called a Notice of Penalty Offenses. They did not accuse any companies of wrongdoing, but Hutchinson said the FTC wouldn't send letters if it wasn't concerned there were problems.
The FTC cited these deceptive practices it said it has challenged companies on previously:
- Fake reviews, endorsements and testimonials
- Failing to disclose a relationship between the company and someone posting a review, endorsement, or testimonial
- Misrepresenting that the typical user of a product will have the same experience as an endorser
In a separate action, online retailer Fashion Nova paid $4.2 million to settle FTC charges that it claimed all customer reviews were posted on its website, but in fact suppressed any lower than five stars.
So what can consumers do?
- Know the signs of fake reviews:
- If many are posted in a short period of time
- Glowing praise like "great company" with no details
- Misspellings and grammar errors could indicate the company hired an overseas "content farm" to write positive reviews
For anyone shopping online, do research and be sure to read reviews from a variety of sources.