How to Know If a Review Site is Trustworthy

by | Ethics, Fake Reviews

84% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, but should they?

From owners and employees who write reviews for their own businesses, to Chinese Water Armies that churn out millions of fake reviews per year, to brushing, to AI that has been trained to write phony reviews, we have every reason to be skeptical about online reviews.

According to independent estimates, up to 40% of Amazon reviews and 16% of Yelp reviews are potentially fraudulent. And who can forget the famous story of a London man whose fictional restaurant rose to become the top restaurant on TripAdvisor, owing to fake reviews?

Fake reviews are an epidemic, and it’s up to review sites to weed them out.

Unfortunately, many review sites aren’t able or don’t have enough incentive, to solve the fake review problem. How can you have more confidence in the review sites that you’re using to inform your buying decisions?

How to know if a review site is trustworthy

  1. Identity Verification – Does the site verify the reviewer’s identity?
  2. Validated Experience – Does the site employ a closed loop approach?
  3. No Bias or Persuasion – Does the site offer incentives to give a review?
  4. Normal Rates of Engagement – Does the site have too many reviews?

Does the site verify the reviewer’s identity?

Phony reviews begin with fake identities. Fake reviewers start by creating dozens of fake profiles and posting hundreds of fake reviews. They then upvote their own fake reviews from their dozens of fake accounts. This allows them to use all of the fake reviewers to establish their helpfulness within the review site platform. That helps the site falsely identify them as credible.

If you can easily create multiple accounts and leave multiple reviews on the same company, the site isn’t doing enough to verify the identity of the reviewer.

On B2C review sites, look for sites that require a double opt-in, two-factor authentication, as well as other verifications, such as connecting multiple social media accounts. Airbnb’s platform allows guests to upload a government ID to verify their identity.

In the B2B context, you can be more trusting of review sites that require an employer email address to give a review.

Be wary of sites that allow users to give reviews using a Hotmail, Gmail, or iCloud address without requiring more information

Does the site employ a closed loop approach?

We admire the review features of Open Table and Airbnb. Only those guests who are verified by hosts to have completed their reservations may review the accommodations or restaurants they visit.

This is called a closed loop. While a closed loop doesn’t eliminate potential review fraud, you can have more confidence in the reviews.

Are all review sites that don’t offer a closed loop unreliable? Not necessarily. If a site doesn’t employ a closed loop approach, you can look at other elements that point to legitimacy, like:

  • Process – Do they employ a vetting process that increases their confidence that a reviewer can give a legitimate review?
  • Proof – Do they require proof of purchase?
  • Follow-Up – Do site operators reach out to gain clarification if a review seems questionable?

Does the site offer incentives to give a review?

Getting a $10 reward for writing a review might not seem worthwhile to you, but to others (especially those who are willing to write lots of fake reviews) it’s a very big deal.

Be careful of sites that offer incentives to give a review. Even on B2B review sites, rewards incentivize review fraud among people who are eager to earn a little extra spending money.

And don’t forget about overseas fake reviewers! For some, writing 10 fake reviews per day at $10 a pop is all they need to live the high life (or a life better than what they might otherwise have available to them).

Does the site have too many reviews?

At first blush, this may seem counterintuitive. But fewer reviews should increase your confidence in the legitimacy of the reviews.

When hundreds of thousands or even millions of reviews need to be processed, the potential for review fraud goes way up. The high numbers can work in favor of the bad guys.

How?

When a site operator only needs to process a handful of reviews and reviewers per day, it’s easier to manage. They can scrutinize each and every review and reviewer, instilling more trust in the system.

Give preference to niche review sites that cover smaller market segments. The number of reviews may be lower, but you can have more trust in the reviews that are there.

It’s your money on the line. Be sure to select review sites that you can trust.