According to a Nielsen study, 80% of online buyers say they take these reviews into account. And according to the Easy Panel Trust study, 9 out of 10 French people consult reviews on the internet.
The problem? A few weeks ago, the DGCCRF presented a survey that classified 45% of reviews posted on the internet across all sectors as FALSE. On the buyers' side, they consider that 3/4 of the reviews are false (source: test n trust).
The regulations
The DGCCRF begins to use the term "misleading advertising" when the publication of notices is linked to the brand or the trader himself. Over the last 4 years, 139 establishments have been inspected by the DGCCRF, which resulted in 17 warnings and 23 reports.
There is currently no law against fake reviews that come from unethical e-reputation agencies or jealous competitors.
A standard has however been established by AFNOR portugal business email list with the help of 40 partners including TRIPADVISOR, but following the publication of this standard, the latter does not consider it useful to apply it... in short, the traditional "do what I say but not what I do!".
In 2016, an ISO standard is expected to be published and will most certainly influence the trust that consumers place in online review platforms.
ToutBidon.com “The site where you should not be”
This new online review site offers Internet users a platform where they can only post their bad reviews. Moreover, the pictograms linked to the comments are clear since they are small bombs in the shape of a sphere. The Internet user is invited to provide information about the merchant or establishment at the origin of their dissatisfaction, then to let loose by delivering their story around this negative experience.
Fake review site
Screenshot: www.toutbidon.com
A tool to detect fake reviews
Review Skeptic offers to analyze the semantics of a review and tell you whether it is false or not. This analysis is based on research from an American university in the state of New York. Available only for English content, many professionals must be impatient for the arrival of a stable version that supports more languages.
Fake Review Tool
Screenshot: http://reviewskeptic.com/
Our recommendations
"Forewarned is forearmed"
I'm sure you know that awkward situation when a paper is stuck to your shoe and you're the last one to notice. Same struggle for online reviews. Identify the platforms where your business appears against your will and take control as the brand owner and manage the content there.
Second step, create alerts through free monitoring tools on the internet such as Google Alerts or Mention. These tools scan social networks, forums, blogs and websites for you in search of previously recorded keywords.
Example: “MY COMPANY” + “SCAM” etc…
“Occupy the field!”
Once your monitoring is organized, take over the field! Create a website that will allow you to distribute quality content about your company and your products/services.
The crux of the matter on the web is content, so update your website regularly and ideally, create a blog. This space will be used to publish information about your market, customer testimonials, your latest achievements and any element that, in the event of a problem with a dissatisfied customer, will demonstrate your goodwill.
