Fake reviews in SERPs and on google's own sites

Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi

Message Too Old, No Replies

Fake reviews in SERPs and on google's own sites

gamblingseo

2:01 pm on Dec 21, 2011 (gmt 0)

Webmasters are now now faking reviews, etc [via microformats] and reaping the rewards with enhanced listings on google (big yellow review stars and positive (and fake) review numbers on their SERP listings.)

It's also possible to put these fake listings on tumblr, blogger,in fact any site on which you can upload raw html. My Question is

a- What is google going to do to stop this potential abuse?
b- Did google ever have a manual whitelisting process?

thanks
Niall

[edited by: tedster at 5:01 pm (utc) on Dec 21, 2011]

maximillianos

5:19 pm on Dec 21, 2011 (gmt 0)

I've noticed this too. Though I think G has some checks and balances in place. I've seen some sites try to fake it and it doesn't work.

goodroi

6:01 pm on Dec 21, 2011 (gmt 0)

It might be more noticeable now but this is not new. I have lost count the different ways I have seen reviews being faked. Google does have some safeguards in place but if you are creative enough you can get around them.

If you are not experienced I would beg you to think twice before playing around with this. Most inexperienced (and even some experienced) people end up causing themselves more harm then good when taking these shortcuts.

nomis5

6:20 pm on Dec 21, 2011 (gmt 0)

I haven't heard of any Google safeguards against false reveiwes in Rich Snippets. Anything more specific about what they are?

It seems to me that one review is enough to generate those attention grabbing stars, no more is required. And don't forget the picture that can appear as well, all courtesy of Rich Snippets - the picture gives far more SERPS real estate to an entry than the stars do. Both is best though.