Trend: Study Points Out Growing Number of Fake Social Media Reviews

By Karla Robinson
September 24, 2012

“Between 10 percent and 15 percent of all user reviews on social media sites will be paid for by companies selling the products,” CNET reports, per new research from Gartner.
“With over half of the Internet’s population on social networks, organizations are scrambling for new ways to build bigger follower bases, generate more hits on videos, garner more positive reviews than their competitors, and solicit ‘likes’ on their Facebook pages,” notes Jenny Sussin, senior research analyst at Gartner.
“Many marketers have turned to paying for positive reviews with cash, coupons, and promotions… in order to pique site visitors’ interests in the hope of increasing sales, customer loyalty, and customer advocacy through social-media ‘word of mouth’ campaigns,” she adds.
The research firm says this practice could be costly for brands in the near future, suggesting the Federal Trade Commission will pursue lawsuits against companies who pay for social media reviews.
Already, Cornell University researchers have created a solution that is 90 percent effective. The group developed software to detect fake reviews, “easily beating the average person, who identifies a fake review only half the time,” the article states.

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