Businesses caught soliciting favorable reviews are increasingly running the risk of getting slapped with a badge of shame, particularly on Yelp, David Streitfeld reports in Thursday's New York Times.
Like every Web site that depends on consumer critiques, Yelp has a problem with companies trying to manipulate that feedback. So it set up a sting operation to catch them. The first eight businesses - including a moving company, two repair shops and a concern that organizes treasure hunts - will find themselves exposed on Thursday.
For the next three months, their Yelp profile pages will feature a consumer alert that says: “We caught someone red-handed trying to buy reviews for this business.â€
Potential customers will see the incriminating e-mails trying to hire a reviewer.
With online and offline commerce increasingly driven by reviews, businesses can be irresistibly tempted to make themselves look better than they are. They commission favorable d escriptions of themselves and may even bribe customers to say how terrific things were. The most unscrupulous write unflattering comments about competitors.
TripAdvisor has put up similar warning notices, but declined to say how extensive its effort was.
In general, however, review hubs have tended to deal with fakery quietly, even as the problem has grown.
“The bigger Yelp gets, the more incentive there is to game the system,†said Eric Singley, its vice president for consumer products and mobile. “These notices are the next step in protecting consumers.â€
