Posts Tagged
‘Fake Reviews’

The challenges KwikChex made against fake reviews got us noticed in the first few months of launching our services when we were invited to appear on BBC TV’s flagship technology programme ‘Click’. Spencer Kelly, host of the ‘Click’ programme visited our offices in Bournemouth and KwikChex director and founder Chris Emmins took him through the […]

KwikChex has once again assisted BBC investigative journalists, providing information on problems with online reviews websites.   Director and Co-Founder of KwikChex, Chris Emmins was also interviewed on Adrian Goldberg’s programme. – discussing how TripAdvisor prioritise Online Travel Agents (OTAs) that pay TripAdvisor in their search results. TripAdvisor now prefers consumers to see ‘deals’ from their OTA […]

Credits: The Sun, by Kathryn Cain ‘CHINESE fraudsters operating a sophisticated “fake reader factory” have taken down travel website TripAdvisor’s page on the country’s top social media app.’ ‘Two years ago a Bournemouth-based online reputation management company cast specific doubt on the integrity of TripAdvisor’s Chinese operation. Chris Emmins, co-founder of KwikChex, found some “amazingly […]

Credits: 4hoteliers.com, 26th April 2016 After examining more than forty thousand TripAdvisor reviews of all star-rated hotels in Hong Kong in a recently published study, the study warns that the high proportion of suspicious reviews should ring an ‘alarm bell’ for customers. Around 20% of online hotel customer reviews may be unreliable or fake, according […]

Credits: TechCrunch By Ingrid Lunden (@ingridlunden), 8th March 2016 Fake reviews have been an occasional and frustrating by-product on sites like Google, Yelp and Amazon for years. But a recent case in the Netherlands highlights how one company affected by them fought back. A nursery in Amsterdam has won a case against Google in a civil court in the city […]

Credits: Bighospitality.co.uk, By Sophie Witts, 04-Mar-2016 Businesses which arrange for third parties to write fake positive reviews about them online are at risk of falling foul of consumer protection law, according to new guidance. Above excerpt and read the full article: bighospitality.co.uk

Credits: Telegraph By Katie Morley 1st March 2016 Companies that post fake reviews on websites to boost their ratings could face fines of thousands of pounds as part of a new Government crackdown on misleading business practices. The Telegraph understands that the Department for Business Innovation and Skills is considering banning the practice of writing or […]

Credits: Mail Online, By: Mark Palmer ‘By sharing all your experiences, you’re helping other travellers make better choices and plan their dream trips. That’s what you are told before posting a review of a hotel or restaurant on the website TripAdvisor. But better choices and dream trips don’t always come into it. You might just […]

Credits: Travel Weekly, USA By: Danny King ‘Paris-based hotelier Accor said it had placed one of its executives on a leave of absence after learning that he had posted more than 100 reviews of both Accor-operated hotels and competing properties on TripAdvisor under an assumed alias.’ ‘The U.K.-based online reputation-management firm KwikChex identified Peter Hook, […]

Credits: BBC News ‘Fair-trade officials in Taiwan are looking into reports that Samsung paid people to criticise rival HTC online. Samsung is alleged to have hired students to post negative comments about phones made by Taiwan’s HTC. If found guilty of engaging in “false advertising”, Samsung and its local agent could face fines of up […]

Credits: Mail Online By Damian Ghigliotty * Writers say thousands of mostly positive book reviews have been deleted from the online shopping site in recent months * Amazon will not disclose how many reviews it has erased * Several writers have voiced frustrations with the move * Others are pushing for more vetting of book reviews Amazon […]

Credits: BtoBonline.com By: Christopher Hosford ‘Brand and reputation management is considered a key element of social media marketing. But what happens when forums, blogs, tweets and “likes” are sabotaged by hackers, competitors and other villains intent on destroying a company’s reputation? As many as 15% of online reviews will be fake by 2014, according to […]

You can view the original story ‘Leeds restaurant fined after bug poisons 23’ – that we featured on our new food poisoning help website by clicking here. The restaurant featured in the story, the Red Chilli in Leeds was inspected last July / August. The article reports that the mitigation included the owners addressing the problems straight […]

Credits: The Mail on Sunday (This is Money) By: Sarah Bridge ‘It is every cook’s worst nightmare. Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal has just been accused of giving diners food poisoning.’ ‘However, rather than being a genuine case, it seems that Heston may be the latest victim of a growing trend in which people put fake […]

Credits: Firstpost By: Sandip Roy ‘Fake Review Writer is actually a bona fide job category these days. You can find it on the website Freelancer.com alongside more traditional freelancing jobs such as Java programmers and telemarketers. Someone wants 5K fake Facebook likes as fast as possible. At the time I checked, there were three bids for that […]

Credits: Forbes By: Suw Charman-Anderson, Contributor ‘The web has created some fantastic opportunities for authors, publishers and self-publishers alike, but this summer has seen the industry’s dark underbelly revealed in all its venal, pustulant ignominy.’ ‘…successful author Stephen Leather confessed, during an on-stage panel discussion, that he used fake accounts to write reviews and promote […]

In the latest research by KwikChex – into thousands of online allegations of food poisoning, the results showed some eyebrow-raising statistics and cases. There are certainly well over 100,000 online allegations of food poisoning in the UK alone. Of 200 cases where KwikChex has been asked for assistance by business owners claiming false allegations, there […]

Credits: The Seattle Times By: Christopher Elliott ‘Online travel giant isn’t very transparent about the way it operates, says columnist Christopher Elliott.’ ‘TripAdvisor.com, which claims to be the world’s largest travel site, bills itself as a place that offers “trusted advice from real travelers.” Corcoran, an office administrator in Baltimore, says that trust was broken when […]

BBC Fake Britain investigates the damage caused by fake Trip Advisor reviews to KwikChex Members Howarth House and Medieval Lodge. The Broadcast on the iPlayer has now expired  – the next available viewing according to BBC is at 02:55am Thursday 7th June BBC1

The proposed changes to UK defamation laws that were included in the Queen's Speech last week would have a profound effect on online reviews.  The government has made clear its intentions to support free speech, while also enabling claimants to protect their reputation by securing removal of defamatory material without undue delay - and to [...]

Credits: Enfield Independent By: Hermione Wright ‘A cyber bully is playing with the future of a Tottenham funeral firm by leaving ‘fake’ feedback on a major review website.’ ‘Damian Melville, 33, opened Melville and Daughters funeral directors in West Green Road two years ago to ensure future job security for his five-year-old and 12-year-old daughter when […]

  “Reviews You Can Trust”. It always was a bold slogan, but last month Tripadvisor was officially told to remove it from its British website. The country’s advertising watchdog decided you couldn’t tell which reviews were real, and which were simply made-up. But now, one similar site says it may have found a way. Keith […]

The complaint centred on TripAdvisor’s claims of the trustworthiness and reliability of reviews posted on their website. It was made because of what we regarded as exaggerated claims by TripAdvisor regarding the trustworthiness of reviews on their website, which are all unsubstantiated – without even verification that authors of comments left on the site are […]

KwikChex member Medieval Lodge in Hastings, UK today had a fake review removed from their TripAdvisor profile after the BBC reported the distress and damage being caused on their flagship breakfast news programme. KwikChex has traced the person responsible and is considering further action. Watch the BBC news clip. Further information and update on this […]

English translation – see original article and images on BBC Brasil – click here Fake Reviews affecting online retailers – authorities concerned Thomas Pappone BBC Brasil in London Updated September 30, 2011 – 10:02 (GMT) 13:02 GMT “My husband and I stayed at the James Chicago Hotel for our anniversary. This place is fantastic! Once […]

Credits: The Irish Times By: Karlin Lillington “In the UK, that anger has bubbled over into a complaint brought to the country’s Advertising Standards Agency by online reputation management company KwikChex, representing some 2,000 UK hotels.” “Kwikchex co-founder Chris Emmins told the Telegraph that the company made a similar complaint on behalf of hotels and restaurants […]

Credits: Technorati By: Kaleel Sakakeeny “Now we read in the usually reliable industry site, hotel marketing.com that the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority(ASA) is officially investigating the review giant because complaints have “reached monumental levels.” “If the ASA finds against TripAdvisor it could spell trouble for spin-off Expedia, a huge ad monger.” Above excerpts and full […]

Credits: The Boston Globe By: Melanie Nayer “How many times have you Googled a hotel name and found a TripAdvisor review show up? How many times have you clicked on that link to read the review? How many of those reviews were fake?” Above excerpt and full article on The Boston Globe: www.boston.com

Credits: Argophilia By: Phillip Butler “The allegations by many are that, hotels were paying “agents” to “boost” their reviews – and to make their competition look bad. The Christian Science Monitor goes so far as to say the “problem” with fake reviews and endorsements if even greater than TripAdvisor’s suggested 10 million fake endorsements, CSM […]

More and more coverage is being given around the world to the problems of fake and unreliable online reviews – and the role of TripAdvisor in this growing phenomenon which is deceiving consumers and damaging many reputable businesses. USA The New York Times wrote about how “an industry of fibbers and promoters has sprung up […]

Credits: The Times By: Stephen Bleach “The TripAdvisor system for exposing fake reviews on its website has serious flaws – can we expect genuine contributions anymore?” “This is further proof that TripAdvisor’s screening is poor,” said Chris Emmins, of the online reputation-management firm KwikChex. “Every day, the site is becoming more corrupted by false reviews.” […]

Credits: Caterersearch.com By: Janet Harmer 03/08/2011 A report that is claimed to include tens of thousands of defamatory comments and misrepresentation on review site TripAdvisor has been presented to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Online reputation management firm KwikChex.com, which has also presented its findings to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the USA, said […]

Credits: The Times By: Laura Whateley “As ‘thousands’ of fake hotel reviews prompt a warning to travellers, we examine the facts and urge holidaymakers to exercise caution when using TripAdvisor.com” “Corruption of information and abuses of the site are growing,” Mr Emmins (KwikChex Co-Founder) says. “We have studied TripAdvisor for eight months, evaluating almost every […]

A campaign started by the online reassurance and reputation resource, KwikChex.com, has been the subject of a BBC TV report. The BBC’s flagship technology programme, ‘Click’ produced a special report which highlighted how reputable and blameless businesses are being attacked and defamed online on resources such as Google Maps Reviews. The programme featured one particular […]

Background One of the worst examples yet of a fake and malicious review on Google Maps has been rapidly removed after KwikChex verified the facts. Storm Photography of Colchester in the UK had a malicious review posted on Google maps a month ago (16th Feb) and had not managed to have it deleted. At first […]

Type ‘Appalling Hotels London’ into a Google search and it shows 576,000 results. Repeat the exercise, replacing the word ‘hotel’ with ‘restaurant’ – 372.000 results.

You can repeat this exercise anywhere with similar results. New York will get 627,000 results for restaurants and 82,700 for hotels – in fact type in just ‘disgusting hotel’ and Google declares 1,700,000 results and 1,440,000 for ‘disgusting restaurants.’

This is a simple way to understand how many accusations and criticisms are being placed on the web – and often the business owners on the receiving end are not even aware of the damage being done – and are not deserving of the criticisms. In the results you will find many mentions of leading brands such as Hilton (49,900 ‘disgusting’ results), and Marriiott (45,800).

KwikChex.com has been conducting research to define the scale and significance of the problems of online reputation and bad and fake reviews.The scale is astonishing – thousands of websites and blogs are already online carrying millions of reviews. Most reviews are anonymous and are often almost completely unmoderated.

[gravityform id=7 title=false description=false] Fake and Suspect Online Reviews In addition to promoting Outstanding Businesses, KwikChex provides services that are aimed at creating a more honest and dependable Worldwide Web. This includes dealing with fake reviews. We defend our members against online defamation and are working towards the improvement in the dependability of online reviews. […]

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