Given that 88% of shoppers consult ratings and reviews before making a purchase, brands should never launch a product without first collecting user-generated content (UGC). And smart brands also want to keep their products fresh and appealing to their consumers so periodically they may reformulate an existing product (“new and improved!”).

But that raises a serious question — can existing reviews be used for reformulated products? 

According to a recent FTC crackdown on fake reviews, this practice can be considered as “review hijacking.”

What is review hijacking and when does it occur?

Review hijacking is a type of fake review that occurs when a brand or retailer repurposes a review from one product and applies it to a substantially different product. Sometimes it’s done intentionally, such as knowingly using a review for a liquid dish detergent on the product page for a detergent pod designed for an electric dishwasher. 

But it can also happen unintentionally, like when a brand reformulates an existing product but displays reviews that already existed for the earlier version of the product.

Let’s say you’re a home appliance seller and you’ve been selling (and collecting reviews for) a specific washing machine. You launch an updated version: washing machine 2.0. The new product, however, has many different features. If you’re displaying reviews for the older model under the new one, you’re review hijacking. 

Or you reformulate several ingredients in your flagship facial cleanser. If those changes make the product substantially different — as perceived by your consumers — you shouldn’t re-use the reviews from the earlier version of the cleanser. 

Other examples of review hijacking include repurposing a listing page for a product that has positive reviews for another completely unrelated product. By repurposing the listing page, the review hijacker tries to make the second product look like it has more ratings and reviews than it actually does. These actions are, “unquestionably deceptive and of no redeeming value to legitimate marketers,” said the FTC. 

Potential outcomes of review hijacking

Whether intentional or not, review hijacking can mislead shoppers by giving the impression the reviewer’s comments apply to a specific product when the reviewer hasn’t actually had experience with that product. And it can have serious potential consequences.

Secondly, the FTC has signaled that review hijacking will continue to be one of its enforcement priorities. In February 2023, a supplement brand had to pay $600,000 to settle the FTC’s charges that they’d engaged in review hijacking, when they displayed reviews for one product on the product page of a similar product. 

And more recently, the FTC proposed new regulations identifying seven types of deceptive practices, including review hijacking, that could be subject to fines of up to $50,120 per review each time it is viewed by a consumer. 

How to avoid review hijacking when reformulating a product

With the preceding guidance in mind, we recommend all brands and retailers take a close look at their UGC program to ensure you’re not inadvertently misleading your customers.

1. Audit your current review program for hijacked reviews

The first step you should take is to look at your existing bank of reviews. Is there any chance a review for one product could end up on another, unrelated item? Are your current reviews in compliance with the FTC proposal? Would your customer(s) feel misled or tricked?

56% of shoppers say dishonest product information makes them lose trust in a brand. Even if you do it unintentionally, if they feel tricked or misled, they’ll likely take their business elsewhere,

2. Collect reviews for reformulation of SKUs and product launches

When launching an updated version of a popular product, talk to a pro (like one of our customer success managers) before you copy and paste over your current reviews. They can help ensure you leverage your existing UGC in the most authentic and compliant way. 

The same advice applies to any product launch. Don’t risk the fine or the loss of your brand reputation. According to our recent research on consumer attitudes toward fake reviews, 97% of shoppers say fake reviews make them lose trust in a brand. What’s more, 81% of respondents said they’d avoid using a brand again after losing trust in it. Not only do you risk a fine from the FTC, but also the loss of business from your loyal customers.

The good news is, if your audit reveals that your UGC may be misleading, there’s a number of ways you can collect more relevant, authentic reviews for your individual products, including:

• Running a sampling campaign, where you trade samples of products for honest authentic review, ensures you’ll have a bank of fresh reviews for reformulating current SKUs and new product launches
• Tapping into existing communities of everyday influencers like the Influenster App, which contain a trove of UGC about your brand
• Asking customers for feedback directly with a review request email
• Scanning your social pages for positive reviews left under product pictures

How do I know if I’m review hijacking?

Now this is where we fall into “gray area” territory. The line between legitimate review sharing and review hijacking can be a little fuzzy. It all comes down to transparency and the perception of consumers. You might be technically correct in sharing reviews across various products, but if customers feel misled, you could still face damaging backlash.

Don’t stress. Here’s a few examples of what’s acceptable — and what could land your business in the crosshairs of the FTC.

• You typically can apply the same reviews to items that are the same formula or product, but different quantities or sizes. For example, a t-shirt that’s a size small can share the same UGC as its medium counterpart. The trial and regular sizes of a shampoo can also share reviews

• You should be careful when items are different, but not substantially different. For example, if you tweak the scent or recipe of a product. We always recommend a conservative approach in these instances. When in doubt, discard the review. (That said, our customer success managers are here to help if you have any questions!)

• You cannot apply reviews from an unrelated or completely different product to another item. As discussed above, that includes transferring the reviews of an older item to a newer model with a substantially different formula or makeup — especially if it can affect a customer’s health (think skincare, food products, supplements etc)

Generally, your best bet should follow “better safe than sorry” because transparency and authenticity are essential to consumer trust. Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes. If you think they might feel misled by a re-used review, simply don’t post it.

It’s much safer to be one review down and protect your brand reputation (and bottom line!) for the sake of a review, given that 72% of shoppers choose products based on a brand’s reputation.

Review your reviews with Bazaarvoice

The proposed FTC rule shows that the agency is championing the importance of authentic, transparent shopping experiences for consumers — something Bazaarvoice supports our customers in doing every day.  

We’ve always touted the importance of content transparency as a core value and worked hard to develop protocols for keeping the businesses we serve safe and compliant.

Reach out to your Bazaarvoice client success manager for an audit to ensure your current UGC programs are in compliance with the proposed FTC reviews guidelines and prevent your review count reverting to zero. 

And don’t worry. If you find that your current reviews can’t be used or you want a fresh batch of reviews for your product reformulation, we can help you supercharge your UGC collection to get powerful reviews and ratings that will boost customer trust. Get in touch below.

LEARN MORE

The authenticity movement: building consumer trust without fake reviews

Read here

Getting customers to write those reviews, however, can be tricky. 

This is where incentivized reviews come in — done correctly, these reviews help build trust between existing customers, potential customers, and your brand. We’ll cover the best practices of incentivized reviews, including how to source them, disclose them, and more. 

Let’s get into it. 

Chapters:

1. What is an incentivized review? 
2. How to get authentic incentivized reviews
3. Can you incentivize Google reviews?
4. Why you should use incentivized reviews
5. Get help from the UGC experts 

What is an incentivized review? 

Incentivized reviews are collaborations between a brand and its customers. The customer leaves reviews about their experience with the brand’s product or products, and in exchange, the brand gives them a small reward. It’s a symbiotic relationship: the brand gets social proof of the quality of its product or service, and the customer gets a discount code, loyalty reward points, or some other thank-you gift.

Essentially, you’re acknowledging the time and effort it takes for customers to write a review and expressing your thanks. 

But incentivized reviews can be a double-edged sword for companies. Used well, they boost your connection to potential customers. They’ll see fellow shoppers giving their honest assessment of your product or service, which will (hopefully) drive them to purchase it. 

Used poorly, they can be dangerous to your brand. You need to be transparent about which reviews are incentivized by clearly labeling them. Potential customers could end up feeling like they’ve been tricked if they later learn that a review was written in exchange for a discount vs. seeing that disclosed upfront. 

Authenticity is vital in today’s market, and it’s important to have that come across in reviews. 78% of shoppers surveyed in our recent research said that product reviews were the most influential factor when they were making purchasing decisions. 

How to get authentic incentivized reviews

We’ve already touched on one of the best practices of incentivized reviews: clearly labeling them with something like an incentivized review badge. But in order to label them, you first have to get them. 

Getting authentic, valuable, incentivized reviews is important, and it can definitely be a challenge — customers are busy with so much competition for their limited time and attention. You have to balance offering a significant enough reward to customers that they feel appreciated for their time and effort without attracting those who would write a fake review just for the reward.

But don’t despair. It’s far easier than it seems! These best practices will ensure you’re getting genuine reviews that will help your brand grow organically.

Source them from your customers 

The easiest way to get a review is simply by asking for one. Reach out to your customer mailing list directly or tap into your customer community. Find your customers where they’re already browsing, such as in a branded community space, on social media, or at in-person events. 

These methods take more time and effort for your team if you don’t already have an existing outreach strategy in place. You’ll need to consider available resources before you decide to build your own brand community from scratch or dedicate your design team to creating in-store collateral asking for reviews. 

No matter how you start your customer review outreach, a targeted sampling strategy will help you engage with your customers right away. That means reaching out to consumers and offering a product sample in exchange for an honest review. (Be sure to emphasize that last part!) These samples can be trial sizes, virtual samples, full products — whatever makes the most sense for your brand. 

What does that look like in terms of driving conversions? Petco’s sampling program saw a 48% revenue increase on sampled products!

If a sampling program isn’t something your brand can handle logistically on your own, and you don’t have the resources to outsource it, you can start simpler with your incentivized review strategy. Offer discounts or a promo code in exchange for reviews, emailing customers soon after they’ve made a purchase when the product is still top-of-mind. You can also run a sweepstakes contest with extra entries earned by providing reviews. 

Avoid common pitfalls with incentivized reviews

Sending a discount or coupon code is one thing, but you never want to pay shoppers outright for reviews. Paying for reviews directly discourages honest feedback, as reviewers might feel obligated to say nice things about the brand since they’ve been paid for their time. They’re less likely to admit what could be improved about a product, which is also valuable feedback for your team.

Paid reviews also make anyone reading the reviews feel like they couldn’t possibly be getting unbiased information about the product — avoid it at all costs.

And while incentivized reviews are great, they’re just one tool in your UGC toolbox. You shouldn’t rely on them exclusively in order to build trust in your brand. Be sure to put them in the mix with organic reviews and user-generated content from social media and any other digital platforms where your customers are active. 

Can you incentivize Google reviews?

No, essentially. Technically you could, but you shouldn’t incentivize Google reviews. Google has their own reviews policy but you should never offer incentives in exchange for positive reviews or incentivize customers to remove negative reviews. If you’re caught doing it, your business can face serious consequences:

1. Possible fines from the FTC — up to $50,000 per review
2. Google’s algorithm will punish you and push you way down in search results
3. Your review(s) will be taken down by Google
4. Your brand reputation will take a huge negative hit

Why you should use incentivized reviews 

It all comes back to building trust with your customers — the more they trust you, the more likely they are to recommend you to their friends, family, and online networks. Gotta love that good old word-of-mouth marketing! It builds brand loyalty and maybe even a little buzz. At the very least, the more your brand gets talked about, the more your brand awareness increases. 

All of this also applies when it comes to reviews. They’re opinions coming straight from other shoppers, after all. According to our last Shopper Experience Index, 22% of global shoppers agree that UGC content — including reviews — makes them more likely to buy a product from an ad. 

Incentivized reviews illustrate authenticity in your brand reviews and in your brand as a whole. You’re willing to put your products out there in the hands of consumers so that they will honestly tell you what they think of them. 

But the best reason to use incentivized reviews? They work. Incentivized reviews have been shown to generate huge impacts on brands’ marketing efforts. Kraft Heinz earned 39 million impressions from incentivized reviews in just three sampling campaigns.

They’ve been able to boost their product launch success by getting new products out to hyper-targeted consumers and asking them for their honest feedback. 

And instead of partnering with macro influencers, Rimmel London decided to implement a targeted sampling program. This resulted in a 44% sales lift. That’s huge given they were faced with the dual challenge of raising awareness for a beauty product and reigniting interest in one of their core products. 

Get help from the UGC experts 

Get incentivized reviews right — using an authentic exchange with your customers — and you’ll ultimately get more business. 

One option is tapping into our 7.5-million-strong Influenster consumer community for an existing pool of shoppers who are already excited about the brands they love and eager to discover more — 98% of their review content is added organically and is non-incentivized.

Capturing UGC organically can be a challenge, but the Influenster community is highly engaged, and we saw this as a good way to drive purchase intent.

Michael Kremer, CMO, Pacifica Beauty

The large proportion of organic reviews gives incentivized reviews more authority — these reviewers are seasoned and aren’t just in it to get free stuff! They’re sharing their feedback because it’s something they’re genuinely interested in doing. 

Bazaarvoice will help you with an incentivized review program as part of your strategy to generate authentic UGC, increase brand awareness, and cultivate lasting brand loyalty. Get in touch below to get started. 

FEATURED RESOURCE

Championing authentic reviews: How to uphold your brand’s reputation in the digital age

Watch now

And while almost all shoppers use ratings and reviews (88%) to evaluate or learn more about products, fake reviews are affecting their ability to confidently turn to reviews as a trusted source when making product purchasing decisions.

And preserving that trust isn’t just about maintaining your customer base and increasing sales. It’s also about maintaining regulatory compliance. Government agencies all over the world enforce consumer protection laws that prohibit unscrupulous marketing practices — including fake, deceptive or misleading reviews.

In the US, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced two important regulations they’re taking to battle fake reviews:

1. They published the final Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. This is the first refresh of the Guides since 2009 and it provides new and updated guidance around endorsements by social media influencers as well as ratings and reviews 
2. The proposed Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials which clarifies what constitutes a “fake” review

What does the proposed FTC regulation say?

The new regulation proposed by the FTC will strengthen the agency’s ability to impose significant monetary penalties in cases involving fake and deceptive consumer reviews — up to $50,120 for each offending review to be imposed each time the review is viewed by a consumer. The aim is to ensure that consumers are provided with a more authentic, honest shopping experience and businesses are able to better protect their brand.

In its notice of proposed regulation, the FTC explained the need for the new rule by citing examples of clearly deceptive practices from its recent cases. They specifically called out the widespread emergence of generative AI, which will make it easier for bad actors to create fake reviews.

According to the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, “Our proposed rule on fake reviews shows that we’re using all available means to attack deceptive advertising in the digital age” and “should help level the playing field for honest companies.”

The proposed new rule clarifies that businesses are prohibited from:

• Selling or obtaining fake consumer reviews and testimonials. Writing or selling reviews by someone who doesn’t exist or has never bought the product
• Review hijacking. Using or repurposing a consumer review written for one product so that it appears to have been written for a substantially different product
• Buying positive or negative reviews. Providing compensation conditioned on the writing of consumer reviews expressing a particular sentiment, either positive or negative
• Illegally suppressing negative reviews. Using unjustified legal threats, other intimidation, or false accusations to prevent or remove a negative consumer review or hiding a negative review from the website
• Using “insider” reviews. Having employees or other insiders write reviews or testimonials of its products or services, without clearly disclosing their relationships
• Selling or buying fake social media indicators. Selling false indicators of social media influence, like fake followers or views
• Fake websites. Creating or controlling a website that claims to provide independent opinions about a category of products or services that includes its own products or services

As the champions of authentic shopping experiences, we at Bazaarvoice fully agree with the premise of this proposed rule and already provide our customers with powerful tools and processes to help them comply. This is simply another strong and welcomed step to help protect brands and the sanctity of consumer reviews and the role they play in commerce.

3 ways to protect your brand

Whether you’re in the US or another country, here’s the three golden rules we instruct our clients and partners to follow, to ensure they protect their brand, and their bottom line, from fake reviews.

1. Be transparent about who you collect reviews from, and how you do it

While consumers continue to trust reviews, they’re increasingly on the lookout for any signs of untrustworthy content. Typically, the behaviors that causes the most suspicion among consumers are:

• Multiple reviews with similar wording on the same product (55%)
• Review content not matching the product (49%) 
• Bad grammar/spelling mistakes (36%) 
• An overwhelming amount of five star/positive reviews (35%) 

Consumers have a right to trust the reviews they encounter and businesses have a responsibility to ensure this content is legitimate. The importance of this trust is further echoed in the guidance being put out by governments and consumer agencies around the world, echoed by the proposed FTC regulation. 

There’s a variety of ways businesses can ask customers to provide a review — review request emails, directly from e-commerce sites, sampling campaigns, or in a social media campaign. Additionally, brands may choose to share the reviews they collect with their retail partners so that consumers can find them anywhere they’re looking to make a purchasing decision. 

Regardless of how a review is collected, brands should never ask for or incentivize positive reviews. If consumers are offered a free product, promotional material (such as discounts or coupons), or a chance to win something of value in exchange for providing an unbiased review, then we recommend adding descriptors such as “this reviewer received a free product in exchange for their honest feedback” to any reviews collected using a promotion. 

2. Don’t screen out negative reviews — find value in them 

While some might think that negative reviews are an absolute disaster for their brand to have, they’re actually a necessity for your ratings and reviews program to thrive. In a survey we ran, over half (60%) of respondents said that negative reviews are as important as positive reviews in their decision to buy a product. The majority claimed that negative reviews contain more detailed info on product pros and cons, while 32% think that they are less likely to be fake reviews.

In addition to giving consumers a true feel for a product or service, negative reviews are an opportunity for engaging with consumers and identifying potential product improvements. 

Responding to, and taking action on, negative feedback will protect your brand by fostering trust and loyalty with customers.

3. Have a zero tolerance policy for fake reviews

Not protecting yourself against fake reviews undoubtedly puts your brand at risk. In the same research as above, respondents said that fraudulent reviews from a brand’s employees (42%) and from other customers (34%) would cause them to lose trust in a brand.

We also found that after losing trust in a brand, a vast majority (82%) of consumers would avoid using the brand ever again. If shoppers suspect a product to have fake reviews:

• 36% wouldn’t buy the product
• 28% wouldn’t trust the brand,
• 27% wouldn’t trust the site’s other reviews
• 25% wouldn’t purchase from the website
• 18% said ‘all of the above’

Companies should be aware of the possibility of fraudulent content through a variety of means, including disruptive or trolling activity, commercial messages, generative AI submissions, illegitimate or degrading content by a competitor, and self-promotion by employees.

We help protect our clients from a variety of different types of fraud. Using textual moderation and data driven, anti-fraud processes to evaluate reviews in the Bazaarvoice Network helps us to protect our clients and their shoppers. 

Our biggest and best piece of advice to protect your brand is to ensure you have a process in place to detect fake reviews, and to not allow them to be posted on your site. Hiring a third-party ratings and reviews provider and moderator is a huge help for this task. 

Protect your brand now

User-generated content is necessary in commerce today. But a reputation for fake reviews will damage your brand reputation as well as your bottom line. Brands and retailers need to continuously and proactively work to combat fake reviews by ensuring they have the right processes in place to protect themselves and their shoppers.

The steps we’ve outlined above, as well as the new guidance and proposed regulation from the FTC, will help you achieve this.

When shoppers can turn to ratings and reviews as sources of truth, it helps them to feel confident in purchasing from your company. Which boosts your bottom line and who doesn’t want that?

Learn more at Bazaarvoice.com/fakereviews.

FEATURED RESOURCE

The authenticity movement: building consumer trust without fake reviews

Read now

While almost all (88%) shoppers use ratings and reviews to evaluate or learn more about products, fake reviews can affect their ability to confidently turn to reviews as a trusted source. This can prevent them from making a purchase and have a significantly negative impact on your revenue. In the current economical climate, that is not something brands and retailers can afford.

To better understand how fake reviews affect consumer mindset and behavior, we surveyed 10,000 global shoppers. Here’s what we learned.  

Consumers are scrutinizing reviews

Thanks to increased media coverage, shoppers are aware and evaluating reviews for authenticity. According to our survey, the top five factors that make consumers suspicious that a product has fake reviews are:

As consumers have become more shrewd and skeptical of marketing and advertising practices as a whole, they’re constantly evaluating product reviews to look for red flags. And if they do spot what they perceive to be a fake or fraudulent review, 81% would avoid using that brand again.

Consumer trust is affected by fake reviews

Nearly all (97%) of our survey respondents said that fake reviews make them lose trust in a brand. Some instances of fake or inauthentic reviews shoppers look out for include reviews generated by a bot, undisclosed incentivized reviews, and reviews written by someone who didn’t purchase the product

The thing with inauthentic or fake reviews isn’t that they’ll simply cause a consumer roll their eyes or skip past it. Losing trust is losing revenue. We found that once consumers lose trust in a brand:

• 81% will avoid using that brand again
• 48% leave a negative review
• 25% wouldn’t purchase from the website
• 16% will post [negatively] about the brand on social media

It isn’t just one potential customer you might be alienating — that one fake review can cause just one customer to spread the news of your untrustworthiness across their social pages, where their reach might be in the 100’s.

Having fake reviews has major consequences on consumer trust and could ultimately impact your business’ bottom line.  

Consumers think fake reviews should be regulated

In a landmark settlement, fashion brand Fashion Nova was recently fined $4.2million by the FTC for suppressing negative reviews. It served as a wake up call to other brands to be honest and authentic with about the reviews they receive. And consumers are on board with this punishment too.

Not only will consumers punish brands who have fake reviews by taking their money elsewhere, they also want them to be regulated and fined more formally by the relevant powers. 70% of global consumers think the retail industry needs a new set of standards to combat fake reviews. And when asked what these standards should entail:

Our survey also asked what an appropriate level of punishment for brands in breach of these standards would be and 27% of respondents suggested a fine of almost 30% of the brand’s revenue.

This is up from a suggested 16% fine when we last ran this survey (in 2020) — evidently consumers feel that this violation of trust warrants an increasingly significant consequences for brands.  

The takeaways for brands: Embrace authenticity and transparency in your reviews

All of the above proves the massive risk that fake reviews present for your business. Shoppers, while they continue to trust reviews, are always on the lookout for any signs of untrustworthy content.

Consumers have a right to trust the reviews they encounter, and, moreover, businesses have a responsibility to ensure this content is legitimate. We believe that authenticity and trust in ratings and reviews is foundational to their value for shoppers, brands, and retailers.  

At Bazaarvoice, we have three golden rules when it comes to how companies should protect consumer trust in reviews:  

1. Don’t allow fake reviews. Companies should be aware of the possibility of fraudulent content through a variety of means, including disruptive or trolling activity, commercial messages, automated submissions (e.g. bots, programs, and scripts), illegitimate or degrading content by a competitor, and self-promotion by employees. This is a big part of how we serve our clients. Using both textual moderation and data driven anti-fraud processes to evaluate reviews in the Bazaarvoice Network helps us to protect our clients and their shoppers 
2. Don’t screen out negative content — find value in it. 71% of our survey respondents said that negative reviews are as important as positive reviews in their purchasing decisions. The majority claimed that negative reviews contain more detailed info on product pros and cons, while 54% think that they’re less likely to be fraudulent. Negative reviews are also an opportunity for engaging with consumers and identifying potential product improvements. We have endless stories from clients that have used the feedback from their customer reviews to help inform all parts of their businesses. Brands who respond to negative feedback will build trust and loyalty with their customers 
3. Be transparent about how you collect reviews. There’s a variety of ways that a business can ask customers to provide reviews, including through review request emails, a sampling campaign, or on social media. Regardless of how a review is collected, you shouldn’t ask for positive reviews. Consumers should always feel empowered to provide their honest feedback. If consumers are offered a free product, promotional material, or a chance to win something of value in exchange for providing an unbiased review, then the review should explicitly indicate this. We recommend adding descriptors like, ”This reviewer received a free product in exchange for their honest feedback” to any reviews that were collected using a promotion 

Beat fake reviews with the right reviews provider

Simply put, a reputation for fake reviews can (and will) damage your brand. As consumer trust of media, business, and marketing continues to decline, brands and retailers need to continuously work to combat fake reviews to ensure that shoppers can continue to use ratings and reviews as sources of truth.

At Bazaarvoice, we continue to be committed to the protection of authentic content on behalf of our clients. In fact, a recent Forrester Study of Bazaarvoice found that our moderation filters reduce time brands spend evaluating content by 75%.

Learn more about Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews here.

FEATURED RESOURCE

The authenticity movement: building consumer trust without fake reviews

Read now

When it comes to customer reviews for your products, there is a lot of money on the line. Great reviews sell more products, bad reviews block purchases, and the absence of reviews raises concern. Because of this, some brands, like those in the news recently, will go to great, and illicit, lengths to purchase or fabricate positive reviews for their products.

As a CGC partner for thousands of brands and retailers, we help more than 700 million consumers view and share authentic opinions, questions, and experiences about tens of millions of products each month. It is our role to ensure that brands can authentically connect to their customers and that consumers have authentic content to inform their purchases.

With ever more ways for consumers to discover, research, and purchase products and services, it is imperative that they find content they can trust. As CGC has grown in importance, efforts to manipulate the system have grown in sophistication. Here are our three golden rules for ensuring authentic consumer-generated content.

Golden Rule #1: Do not allow fake content.

According to Nielsen, almost all consumers (92%) trust consumer-generated content more than traditional advertising and marketing. Consumers have a right to trust the CGC they encounter, and, moreover, businesses have a responsibility to ensure this content is legitimate. Fake reviews can over inflate and damage brands and trick consumers.

Companies should be aware of the possibility of fraudulent content through a variety of means, including disruptive or trolling activity, commercial messages, automated submissions (e.g. bots, programs, and scripts), illegitimate or degrading content by a competitor, and self-promotion by employees.

At Bazaarvoice, we analyze several factors of the entire review process to prevent fake reviews from being published. As part of our moderation and fraud detection processes, we don’t only look at the written review content itself, but the submission process as a whole.

Our moderators look out for certain words and language patterns in written reviews to determine authenticity, and our team also looks at the data associated with the submission. This includes, but is not limited to, submission velocity, geographic analysis, and consumer characteristics. Our moderation and fraud detection teams conduct pattern and data analysis on each specific submission against common behaviors across our entire network to identify reviews submitted abnormally.

Having both textual moderation and data driven anti-fraud processes in place helps us to ensure that all consumer-generated content comes from legitimate consumers.

Golden Rule #2: Don’t screen out negative content — find value in it.

We are firm believers that instead of trying to suppress negative comments, companies and business owners should embrace them.

Customers are used to seeing a mix of positive and negative reviews and have come to expect both when making their purchase decisions. They don’t scare away easily from a few bad reviews, so companies should think twice before deciding to remove or hide negative comments on their websites. In fact, it can be the opposite. We see products that have one or more negative reviews have higher conversion rates than those that have a perfect five-star rating and zero negative reviews.

When products or services have an abundance of overly positive reviews, consumers tend to assume that the content is fake or that negative content has been moderated out. In that scenario, suppressing negative content or providing fake reviews can actually backfire and damage a customer or retailer relationship.

In addition to giving consumers a true feel for a product or service, negative reviews are an opportunity for engaging with consumers and identifying potential product improvements. Brands who respond to and take action on negative feedback will build trust with their customers and improve future products.

Responding to negative reviews gives us the chance to shift the way the customer feels toward us based on the way we handle their concerns. They might still share their negative experience about a product or service, but they also immediately follow with how they will always buy from us because of how well we handled the issue. We respond to reviews to get involved in a conversation with our customers.

Bonnie BerrioCustomer Service Specialist, Boots Retail

We started seeing a trend of customers saying in reviews that they wished our shoe boxes were taller, so they could use them to store high-heeled shoes upright. As a direct result of customer-review feedback, we started offering a tall shoe box, and it’s been a major hit from the get-go by every metric imaginable.

Patrick BurkCustomer Content Manager, The Container Store

All reviews, negative and positive, have an important place in the online shopping experience; the entire marketplace benefits from exchanging honest feedback, and this environment should be safeguarded and protected.

Golden Rule #3: Be transparent about how you collect reviews.

There are a variety of ways that a business can ask customers to provide a review, including verbally at time of purchase, through post-interaction emails, or in a social media campaign. Regardless of how a review is collected, brands should never ask for or incentivize positive reviews. Consumers should always feel empowered to provide their honest feedback.

If consumers are offered money or promotional material (such as discounts or coupons) in exchange for providing an unbiased review, then the review should explicitly indicate this. We recommend adding descriptors to like,”This reviewer received free product in exchange for their honest feedback,” to any reviews that were collected using a promotion.

In an effort to show consumers when CGC is authentic and protected through a neutral third party, we created the Authentic Reviews Trust Mark, which many of our clients display on their product pages. When consumers see the Trust Mark, they can rest assured that the content is free from fraud, spam, edits, and alteration and sourced in a way that ensures unbiased feedback.

As technology advances, so do ways to fake consumer-generated content and falsely inflate products. At Bazaarvoice, we continue to prioritize the protection of authentic content. To better understand how we prevent fake reviews, read more about our Trust Mark and Authenticity Policy.