Google Agrees To Crack Down on Fake Reviews for UK Businesses

Google will take firmer action against British businesses that use fake reviews to boost their star ratings on the search giant's reviews platform. From a report: The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Friday that Google has agreed to improve its processes for detecting and removing fake reviews, and will take action against the businesses and reviewers that post them.

This includes deactivating the ability to add new reviews for businesses found to be using fake reviews, and deleting all existing reviews for at least six months if they repeatedly engage in suspicious review activity. Google will also place prominent "warning alerts" on the Google profiles of businesses using fake reviews to help consumers be more aware of potentially misleading feedback. Individuals who repeatedly post fake or misleading reviews on UK business pages will be banned and have their review history deleted, even if they're located in another country.

How will this work?

[Baron_Yam]

My first thought is review bombing could be replaced by false flag shilling to get a competitor's reviews removed... then people will see the empty review page and block on new reviews and assume the business is disreputable.

People say taxation is unfair

[poofmeisterp]

...Story and comments about other countries taxing U.S. companies just to do business in their country. This brings my brain to that. Google says stop - fix that broken crap. Country agrees. Do a damn good job making it nice for Google to be there, or lower the taxes.

Re:

[LazarusQLong]

Well, to be clear, the USA does it as well, I mean, that's why many external to the USA car companies build production facilities in the USA, to get around the USA's taxes on them

Re:

[poofmeisterp]

Well, to be clear, the USA does it as well, I mean, that's why many external to the USA car companies build production facilities in the USA, to get around the USA's taxes on them

That makes absolutely no sense (from the outside with no prior knowledge) unless you know how it works. Just another game in the machinery of coexistence.

Re:

[LazarusQLong]

that's just what I was told was the reason for both Toyota's and VW's to be built in the US plants. could be wrong, but that's what I was told.

Re:

[poofmeisterp]

that's just what I was told was the reason for both Toyota's and VW's to be built in the US plants. could be wrong, but that's what I was told.

Since it makes no sense, it's probably correct.

Tough one / Digital identity

[devslash0]

On one hand, you would like to allow people to see reviews before making purchasing decisions. On the other, the only way to disincentivise fake reviews is to remove the ratings. As long as there is a score of any kind, business will try everything in their power to influence the outcome and play the algorithm. As much as I am in favour or privacy and anonymity, it sounds like the only way to prevent abuse may be to link reviews to a verified identity.

sooooo

[LazarusQLong]

if Google can do that in the UK why don't they do it for the USA?

Re:

[DirkDaring]

Sounds like a job for their new 500 billion dollar AI.

Re:

[LazarusQLong]

well... Maybe? I mean, I am pretty sure that it'd be biased one way or the other, but so would human beans.

Yet youtube is full of false medical ads

[BrendaEM]

Stop your heart medicine, cure diabetes, youtube ads claim. Additionally youtube runs ads showing tenting to anyone--including kids. No, they haven't done anything about it.

New ransom scheme

[manu0601]

I predict a new ransom scheme: if you do not pay, I will give you obviously fake reviews, so that Google tags you as misleading.