It’s no secret that thousands of companies purchase fake reviews. This practice is common amongst both small businesses and industry leaders. Positive reviews have a plethora of benefits, ranging from improvements in search engine rankings to conversion rates.
Don’t believe us?
Take a look at the Trustpilot profile of your average hosting company. As an example, we will review the case of Namecheap. Namecheap’s Trustpilot profile has an unusual distribution of reviews. There is a whopping 13% of 1-star reviews, 72% of 5-star reviews, and only 15% of other ratings.
Source: Trustpilot
This great polarity points at something: the company may be purchasing fake reviews to keep negative reviews under control. And while doing so, they manage to keep a decent average rating of 4.3 stars. Not bad, although it’s still lower than what you would expect from a reliable company.
When filtering the reviews by date (Most recent), you will notice 9 reviews out of 10 are negative – very negative. Notice how Namecheap responds to every single negative review, which is exactly what you should be doing in this situation.
Suppressing negative reviews does not mean ignoring them. Keep that in mind. You must acknowledge complaints and other negative comments in other to turn the table. Trustpilot allows companies to open “Private requests” with their customers in order to initiate a dialogue and possibly convince them to edit or remove their reviews.
What are fake reviews exactly?
Fake reviews are reviews that are not based on the personal experiences of a customer, but are instead fabricated or paid for by the business or an individual working on behalf of the business. Fake reviews have been around since reviews were born. Sounds impossible? It isn’t. Big companies and media have been deceiving us for decades.
Remember when cigarettes used to be advertised as healthy? We do.
1946 cigarette advertisement launched by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Source: Stanford
Although this may seem unethical at first, it’s important to keep in mind how common it is for a business to mislead its customers. This is achieved through ads, images and product descriptions. Now, is this acceptable? Absolutely not. Promoting something that causes cancer to pregnant women and putting a doctor’s face as a “guarantee” is horrifying.
The outrageous marketing campaign by Camels is a rather extreme example. If you dig deep enough (or if you simply perform a quick Google search for “false advertising scandals“), you will find countless examples of deceiving or outright lying messages and products that are promoted through videos, newspapers and even billboards.
Even companies that are considered “clean” and “noble”, like Apple, have not been exempted from the art of false advertising. Not many of you know that Apple has been sued multiple times for providing the wrong specifications and product details. This happened multiple times throughout the years. One of the most notable cases involved two angry customers that noticed how the display specifications didn’t meet Apple’s promise.
In 2018, Apple has been sued by two unsatisfied customers that claimed the product specifications for the iPhone X are wrong. Source: DailyDot
If you are wondering, they’ve never stopped. They have just evolved and learned how to avoid lawsuits. For example, instead of explicitly lying about a phone that is not waterproof, they simply call it “water resistant” rather than waterproof. There are countless examples along these lines.
Why and how can my business benefit from fake reviews?
Let’s cut straight to the chase: this article is not about unethical marketing. We are discussing fake reviews and their potential for both small business owners and business moguls. In a previous article, we discussed the benefits of positive reviews (and, in a separate occasion, the benefits of Amazon reviews). The same benefits of positive reviews also apply to fake reviews, as they can not be detected when they are published by professionals.
In fact, no one could ever determine with 100% accuracy when a review is forged if the review has been published by a real person following certain measures. Review platforms such as Trustpilot are actively looking for and removing fake reviews, but these controls are not enough to stop a multi-billion dollars industry.
Fake reviews can be extremely helpful in multiple cases. Let’s explore a few examples.
- You have a brand new business that is getting visits, but no sales. When you are struggling with low conversion rates, your first goal should be to obtain more positive reviews. But how can you get positive reviews when no one is willing to trust your company in the first place? It’s a vicious circle. That’s where fake reviews kick in.
- You have an established business that is being targeted by aggressive competitors or review bombing. Believe it or not, it is fairly common for companies to receive negative reviews from competitors trying to disrupt the competition. This is especially common with local businesses.
- You have a business that is struggling with genuine negative reviews. Everybody makes mistakes. Whether it’s late shipping or a product that was not delivered at all. All businesses are managed by humans like you and me (except for Amazon, where 75% of packages are handled by some form of robot).
- You have a business with a good reputation that didn’t receive any reviews during the past 3 months. This is common even amongst big companies when there is not a proper review invite and funnel system. Old reviews lack the relevancy that search engines like Google need to value your reviews and rank your products accordingly.
How do I buy fake reviews? Where can I find them?
Namecheap average negative review – Source: Trustpilot
You may be asking yourself: how do I purchase fake reviews? If you want to transform a website filled with negative reviews like the one above to a trustworthy business that receives positive reviews like the one on the bottom: there is a way.
However, if you want to know the answer, Google is not enough. The web is filled with dozens of untrustworthy websites that promise to deliver high-quality reviews for ridiculously low prices.
Seems too good to be true? It probably is. The majority of these websites are either not going to deliver the reviews or provide reviews that can be detected as fake from a mile away.
Companies like Trustpilot are always “fighting” fake reviews. As a result, millions of forged reviews are removed every year. Review websites have advanced algorithms to automatically detect fake reviews.
With that said, there is always a workaround when it comes down to technology. Between hundreds of sketchy websites that promise real-looking reviews for cheap, there are some that actually deliver realistic reviews that stick.
Beware of most fake review providers.
Always be aware of scammers when it comes down to this kind of service. Ideally, you should look for websites that accept safe payment methods, such as PayPal. Although there are legitimate companies that accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, it may be better to refrain from irreversible payment methods. Especially when you are unsure about the sellers.
PayPal provides a buyer protection program that allows customers to get their money back in case things go wrong.
Once you find the right company, we recommend placing a small order to test the quality of their service. If you are satisfied with the quality and the final result, you can consider purchasing reviews regularly to drastically improve visits and conversion rates.
So, how do I actually purchase fake reviews?
After informing you about the benefits and the risks that surround fake reviews, it’s time to discuss the actual solutions.
Ormosis is proud to provide reviews that are indistinguishable from real ones. Our review services include but are not limited to: Facebook reviews, Trustpilot reviews, Google reviews and Tripadvisor reviews.
Head over to the review services page or contact us for more information.
TL;DR
Purchasing fake reviews is considered unethical and dangerous. Like with many other taboos, our society has double standards. Companies are openly allowed to spend billions in deceiving customers and lie in their advertisements, but they are not allowed to buy reviews that can dramatically increase sales. In reality, this practice is far more common than what the average consumer imagines.
Ormosis can help merchants and business owners build, improve or restore their online reputation.
