A large majority of purchase decisions are influenced by online reviews – so it’s easy to see why businesses are so concerned about their reviews, and why some companies are willing to pay to get good ones. You don’t want biased reviews clouding your judgment, so here are six ways you can spot (and avoid) fake reviews with ease.
1) Check the Name
The reviewer’s name can reveal a lot. If it’s more like a screen name than a real person, like Harvey88 rather than Harvey, consider it suspicious. If you happen to notice that the name is also very similar to the name of an important person in the company or to the name of the product itself, beware.
2) Check the Time
If you see several good reviews in a row, check their timestamps. If the reviews were written very close together, especially within minutes of each other or in the same hour, they may have been written by the same person. It may also be a sign of fakeness if you see lot of reviews written at the same time on separate days, or if the “reviewer” themselves always seems to post their reviews at the same time of day.
3) Overly-Strong Opinions
Fake reviews can often be spotted based on the strength of their opinions. They might be over-the-top in love with a product, saying that it’s perfect, life-changing, absolutely astounding, the best thing ever, or using other extremely laudatory descriptions. The same goes for over-the-top negative reviews. If a reviewer is particularly scathing and harsh, it could have been penned by a competitor. Real people writing real reviews often use language that’s a little more toned-down and believable, and they usually identify both the pros and the cons, not just one or the other.
4) Marketing Ploys
Real people don’t talk like marketing executives in their reviews. If you read a review that says things that sound like an advertisement, it might be just that. Phrases like “nothing else like it on the market,” “scientifically proven,” or “delivers real results,” are just a few examples. A fake review might also repeat the exact name of the product once or several times, and it might repeat features or explanations from the product description.
5) General, Vague, or Off-Topic
If a reviewer offers a vague or general opinion without saying anything else to offer proof or context, they might not be genuine. A review might also be fake if it doesn’t address the specific product, but instead gives an opinion about the company as a whole, or something else unrelated to the product itself.
6) Check the Reviewer’s History
When you delve into a reviewer’s history, you can often find more clues that they’re not real or unbiased. Warning signs include things like having written no other or very few other reviews, and writing many reviews for similar products or products from the same company. Also check for inconsistencies across their reviews, and take special note of any reviews written about competitors. Fake reviewers also usually don’t take the time to upload a photo or avatar, or fill out other profile information.
The reviewer’s name can reveal a lot. If it’s more like a screen name than a real person, like Harvey88 rather than Harvey, consider it suspicious. If you happen to notice that the name is also very similar to the name of an important person in the company or to the name of the product itself, beware.
2) Check the Time
If you see several good reviews in a row, check their timestamps. If the reviews were written very close together, especially within minutes of each other or in the same hour, they may have been written by the same person. It may also be a sign of fakeness if you see lot of reviews written at the same time on separate days, or if the “reviewer” themselves always seems to post their reviews at the same time of day.
3) Overly-Strong Opinions
Fake reviews can often be spotted based on the strength of their opinions. They might be over-the-top in love with a product, saying that it’s perfect, life-changing, absolutely astounding, the best thing ever, or using other extremely laudatory descriptions. The same goes for over-the-top negative reviews. If a reviewer is particularly scathing and harsh, it could have been penned by a competitor. Real people writing real reviews often use language that’s a little more toned-down and believable, and they usually identify both the pros and the cons, not just one or the other.
4) Marketing Ploys
Real people don’t talk like marketing executives in their reviews. If you read a review that says things that sound like an advertisement, it might be just that. Phrases like “nothing else like it on the market,” “scientifically proven,” or “delivers real results,” are just a few examples. A fake review might also repeat the exact name of the product once or several times, and it might repeat features or explanations from the product description.
5) General, Vague, or Off-Topic
If a reviewer offers a vague or general opinion without saying anything else to offer proof or context, they might not be genuine. A review might also be fake if it doesn’t address the specific product, but instead gives an opinion about the company as a whole, or something else unrelated to the product itself.
6) Check the Reviewer’s History
When you delve into a reviewer’s history, you can often find more clues that they’re not real or unbiased. Warning signs include things like having written no other or very few other reviews, and writing many reviews for similar products or products from the same company. Also check for inconsistencies across their reviews, and take special note of any reviews written about competitors. Fake reviewers also usually don’t take the time to upload a photo or avatar, or fill out other profile information.
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