Sometimes reviews are fake. For instance, someone could just hire someone to like something or give negative reviews about something else. On the other hand, some review sources are more legitimate. For instance, the magazine Consumer Reports doesn't accept advertising. Therefore, it claims sponsors don't influence their opinions on various products. Does anyone know of any other ways in which reviews, either online or offline, can be biased or rigged? Anyhow, the subject is of great importance because people want the best possible deal for the least amount of money.
This is very common practice these days. Fake reviews are everywhere. Infact I was offered a lot mpre cash to give a negatibe review for a product han a positive one but since it's something not in my ethics books I decided to turn down the offer. Being a buyer myself at times, I know what an honest review mean to a fresh buyer.
Not just on products but almost anything is being given fake reviews. I had this client once who wanted me to make a bad review for a company. When I started checking the company, it had really good background so I did not do the project for my client.
I agree that there are a lot of fake reviews nowadays. People tend to hire someone to give a positive review for a company or a product that actually don't deserve it, or give a negative review to something that is actually good. Not only in products but in movies as well. There are a lot of positive reviews for a film that sucks, and negative reviews for a movie that is really decent. So sometimes, I don't trust reviews and just see it for myself.
There are many sites that pay members for product reviews and most of the reviews are just fabricated. Even though I read reviews online I don't trust any of them. I think the best way to get a candid feedback on a product or service is through forums. Forum members are genuine in approach and provide real feedback. So whenever I look for anything new like laptop, smartphones or any other costly items I usually ask it in a forum. I got many useful tips from forum members.
@Decentlady Since reviews are so important to integrity, perhaps we should examine ways in which the trustworthiness of reviews can be increased to at least a decent level. As I noted at the top of the thread, Consumer Reports refuses advertising to prevent biased reviews. What might be some way that, say web-hosting or paid traffic can be reviewed? Note, especially paid traffic seems to be shady and dishonest. Some have claimed they use low-quality traffic sources and bots, things that aren't even human.
This is the usual issue I may encounter for an online review of a certain products. My first impression on this mode of writing a review is unhealthy. Why? The netizen or the online writer wrote a review of the product which has been sent to them for free and in return he is going to write his review about the product. Since it is given free, of course, he has to write a good impression about or else he won't be receiving a follow free product. Besides writing it, he also receives a writer's pay. Out of, shall we say, 100 percent, only 2 or 3 are telling the truth.
@Jasmin Cottontail Yes, There was this one time that a client of mine wanted a good review for a movie that sucks. I had no other choice but to watch the movie since it does not have any reviews online. It was poorly made and the story was more like trash.
@Working Buck Hahaha I've also encountered positive movie reviews and when we watched it, I just hoped that I never downloaded the movie, not to mention that my hubby blames me for wasting his 2 or 3 hours. That's why I'm always careful in choosing movies to watch, not only that but in buying products as well.
@Working Buck Well, there are ways of saying something sucks without being cruel about it. However, I feel it's highly unethical to say something is good or great when it's terrible. Nonetheless, then again, some things are in the eye of the beholder. However, a lot of things are not, so you have to be able to tell the difference Myself, I'd probably avoid those jobs, even if they paid well.
@Jason76 Well I have to say that the movie is really a bad one. I have seen indie films which are far more better than that movie. Honestly, I felt I got robbed of my time doing that even if the client paid me for doing the article.
Usually, it is fairly easy to tell if the review is real or not. If the person writing the review is mainly just copying what is written in the description of the product, then it is probably not a real review. People who actually bought the product will leave either a good review or a bad one; but they will generally give honest reasons about what they did or did not like about the product or item that they are reviewing. I always try to leave a review when I buy products online, and I like to share what I liked or didn't like about the product, and maybe about the seller of the product as well. I think that honest reviews really help, and I always read through the reviews before ordering an item online, just to see what experience other people have had with this product.
Fake reviews will exist, but it's hard to stop them appearing. I always look for a balanced approach, where people say good and bad things (or rather where it can be improved). Sadly ratings with stars can be misleading as sometimes people used something incorrectly, or they had an issue with the company they got it from and give a bad rating because they are in a bad mood. You see that often on Amazon where people give one star because the delivery was late, or the item arrived damaged. Don't forget some people will also pay people to give bad reviews on their competitors which is highly unethical, but it does happen especially with hotels, and restaurants.
Possibly, reviews that are all too negative or positive might raise suspicion with readers. Therefore, it wouldn't be wise for a review website to demand that writers give fake and biased reviews. Also, they wouldn't want reviews where all of the products except one or two are rated too negatively or positively. Again, it would raise suspicion. Nonetheless, it could be a case where the extremes in positive and negative are really the truth. Anyhow, I think the science of probability and statistics would give us a fair way to make reviews if applied correctly. You simply take a good sample of reviews from the population and use it to formulate the final review. Anyone agree?
I wouldn't write a paid review (or a review on a product that I was given for free to try out) unless I were allowed to give a fully honest review. My integrity is worth more than the few bucks (or more likely, a few cents) that they would pay. There are a lot of them out there though. It's getting easier to tell the difference. I even saw an article advising people who pay for reviews not to ask for all 5 star reviews or whatever the highest rating is that's applicable. It said they stand out too much when they are all giving the highest marks. I've also heard about people giving friends reviews when they are starting out. Like if you were new to eBay and had no rating, you might ask a couple friends to buy some items and give a review and rating. Just reimburse them for the items and go on your way. This I understand a bit more, as long as they are legit sellers and not out to scam anyone, but it's still deceptive. I like to shop on Amazon, because they have verified buyers and they at least *try* to crack down on fake reviewers.
