FTC rules on fake reviews aren’t enough: Hold sites accountable

“Bewildered by the aftermath of a crippling injury that left me psychologically and physically paralyzed, I found comfort in the caring confines of this remarkable facility . . . They recognized the complex layers of my trauma and took a personal approach in addition to a professional one.” 

If I needed mental health treatment, this sounds like the place, right? Wrong. This quote was from just one of dozens of fake Yelp and Google reviews for a chain of psychiatric clinics in four states.

Online reviews were one of the great innovations of the tech revolution. What consumer doesn’t appreciate having a multitude of real experiences a click away? Unfortunately, tech’s one-time boon has become a bust. Fake reviews permeate review sites today, deceiving millions of consumers and harming thousands of honest businesses.

The Federal Trade Commission published its long-anticipated rule in August cracking down on fake online reviews. It’s a good step, but while the rule addresses the culprits who both buy and sell fake reviews, it gives a pass to those most responsible for the whole system and who do far too little to clean up the fraud: The third-party review platforms themselves.

In six years of research, I have found fake online business reviews across professions from doctors, dentists and lawyers to dog walkers, piano teachers and a children’s charity. The pressure to maintain high online ratings is partly to blame, but poor policing by review platforms and their failure to punish cheaters is skewing the marketplace in favor of the unscrupulous.

Much of the fraud is organized on social media sites such as Instagram and Facebook, where numerous groups exist to facilitate buying, selling and trading fake online reviews. Amazon’s lawsuit in 2022 against the administrators of 10,000 of these Facebook groups illustrates the immensity of the problem. According to Amazon, one group alone had over 43,000 members.

A whole fake review industry flourishes in places beyond the FTC’s reach, such as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. In one public Bangladeshi Facebook group an entrepreneur brazenly advertised jobs for his fellow citizens: Posting fake Google and Trustpilot reviews for American businesses, including medical practices. The solicitor provided a virtual bulletin board of business to be reviewed, gave the links to the appropriate Google or Trustpilot pages, provided the texts of the reviews to be posted and explained payment procedures. Scores of Bangladeshis responded.

Review-sellers on Instagram regularly recruit Yelp Elites, Yelp’s most trusted and prestigious reviewers, and pay them $20 to $50 to post pre-written Yelp reviews of businesses.

Fake review trading is another nefarious activity occurring in Facebook groups. I’ve seen a Virginia psychologist trade Yelp reviews with a Missouri educational supply store. A Michigan eye surgeon traded with a Seattle martial arts studio. A Los Angeles law firm traded with a local psychic.

While the review platforms trumpet their efforts to combat this fraud, their negligence and lack of transparency exacerbate the problem. Consider:

• Review platforms devote too few resources to ferreting out fake reviews. Using no automation, I can find thousands of fake reviews across Google, Yelp and Facebook on any given day. Should we believe that Google can’t see that the same people are reviewing a Missouri chiropractor, a Wisconsin orthodontist, a New York podiatrist and an Arizona endodontist? Should we believe that Yelp can’t find the thousands of plagiarized Tripadvisor reviews on its site? Or that Facebook doesn’t find it odd that a pediatric dentist received 293 reviews in one day, with many commenting on the dentist’s excellent “items,” “delivery,” and “packaging?”
• Too few cheaters face consequences. I can cite a long list of businesses that have had dozens or even hundreds of fake reviews removed by Google or Yelp, yet they suffer no repercussions because consumers are unaware. Review sites should share with consumers everything they know about a business’s review history.
• Profiles’ review patterns are opaque. Google allows reviewers to make their profiles private, a tactic exploited by fakers who want to hide their suspicious review patterns. Many other review sites are even less transparent. Consumers can see nothing about the review histories of people on most medical review sites or even the Better Business Bureau.
• Review platforms remain largely unaccountable to the public. Last fall, fake negative Google and Facebook reviews besieged a Florida contractor, but both tech giants ignored the business’s pleas for help. Only after a local media story did Google respond and remove the reviews. Facebook never did respond, and the fake reviews remain active today. This is not an isolated case.

The FTC’s new rule is akin to going after street dealers and junkies while leaving the drug cartels untouched. The tech companies’ negligence and indifference reward cheating, eroding business ethics and distorting the marketplace. 

If Section 230 prevents the FTC from doing anything to hold third-party review platforms accountable for the fake review mess they have created, then it’s time for Congress to act.

Kathryn Dean is the creator of Fake Review Watch and its eponymous YouTube channel.